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BOANERGES and BARNABAS 



JUDGMENT and MERCY; 



WINE AND OIL, 



WOUNDED AND AFFLICTED SOULS. 



In Z,\na parrs* 



J 

BY FRANCIS QUARLES. 



COCK S EDITION. 






p i: a r f \ 

PRINTED BY AND FOR W. COCK. 
AND SOLD BY IIH .\r;FNT< J HRul r.llouT THE KINGDOM. 



1016 



PREFACE. 



The great and general decay of religion in this 
nation, as it justly gives occasion of wonder, so it 
is of concernment great enough to excuse the trouble 
of enquiriug into the true causes of so great a de- 
i tension of piety. And besides our own experience, 
it is easily observed, out of all the history of the 
Church, that a long peace, and a continual suc- 
ion of prosperous times, leads on to the corrup- 
tion of the faith, the decay of holiness and charity. 
The Church of Christ hath seldom been a gainer by 
:i temporal peace; as she grew in riches and power 
she -till went less in piety and holiness. Religion, 
;i- il puis not on such beauties as allure the eye ol 
fhe world, bo it needs not the warmth of Halcyon 
days Id breed in: like some precious gums, it distils 
i plenty after storms and violent thunder. 
.And faith and holiness have never more flourished, 
th Hi when the professors of it have been well e\er 
cised by the persecutions of the adversaries. And 
however the common enemy of OUr salvation doth 

then act the Lion, worrying the little iloek of Christ, 
uring and breaking in pieces, and stamping ih> 

K ]< 1 



residue iv it h his feet; Dan. vii. 7. Yet all this mis- 
chief is more than abundantly recompensed by those 
great advantages the Church of God receives by the 
triumphant sufferings and exemplary patience of the 
saints. Insomuch that the mischief he doth in calm 
and prosperous times is more to he feared, because 
not so easily discerned and prevented, when by his 
serpentine subtilty he insinuates into the people of 
God the leaven of spiritual pride, schism, contempt 
or neglect of his word, with all the evils that wan- 
tonness or security bring in their retinue : so that as 
the blessings of peace use to make up our thanks- 
givings, we have now reason to mention them in our 
penitential threnes and the songs of our sorrow. 
This cause hath had an universal influence, and 
corrupted even some of those whose sacred office 
obliged them to maintain the purity and sincerity of 
religion, either with their doctrine or their blood. 

Whence the second cause has its rise; the great 
remissness both of civil and of sacred discipline. 
This made men either transgress the laws with im- 
punity, or be censured with partiality. For the 
ecclesiastic power (with grief I mention it, not as an 
argument of reproach) was not so strongly bent 
against profaneness as duty and necessity did re- 
quire. To which I may add that whose parentage 
is of the same cause, the lives of many churchmen 
bore a greater conformity to the sins they were to 
reprove, than the virtues and precepts they taught. 
The world had so high a place in some of their 



V. 

hearts, that themselves soon found little interest 
in the hearts of the world. And when the dispen- 
sers of religion fall into contempt, it must be a 
strong arm, and more than that of flesh, that can 
bear Dp religion itself, and keep that from falling 
too. As government in the church was intended a 
remedy against schism, so the corruption of govern- 
ment let in schisms and factions in a full channel. 
And that is a third cause of the decay of piety, 

The schisms, which have so shaken the fa- 
brick of this church, that nothing but a hand re- 
vealed from Heaven can restore it again to its former 
strength and soundness. An abused zeal hath had 
his evil influence upon the doctrines of almost all 
parties ; that they have respectively thought the best 
way to find a truth, was to stand themselves at the 
greatest distance they could from their opponents. 
There were few parts either of faith or obedience 
winch were not by some dissenting parties reported 
superstition or sinful, on no better 
ground than this, that the thing could not be good 
in itself, because it came from an adversary: a 
ground as vain, as if the Spaniard should refuse the 
gold with whieh his Indian fleet conns home laden, 

DS6 it comes from the Antipodes of his imperial 

By this means faith and good works, prayer 

and preaching, repentance and evangelical holi- 

prayer in forms and extempore, have been al- 

ternately cried up to one another's prejudice or lost 

And tin- effect liath been as ill as the principle \v;e. 

B if 



VI. 

full of error and mistake. And from these disputes*, 
the conclusion hath been made by many, that reli- 
gion might be well enough preserved and God suffi- 
ciently served without any of these ; that what any 
faction disputed against was not at all necessary ; 
that the instances of all duty were so clearly in 
scripture determined, that no argument could be 
strong enough to make a tender conscience doubt of 
the necessity. If these speculations had been confi- 
ned to the schools, the mischief had spread no fur- 
ther than the noise of their wranglings: but since 
they have been the exercise and trouble of the 
weakest understandings and the most illiterate men, 
they that held their religion by the weakest tenure 
have first quitted the possession, So the public as- 
semblies have been made to serve the ends of fac- 
tion, or wholly forsaken, and the hours of prayer 
have called them too seldom into their closets; and 
the church hath been abandoned by many, because 
they could not there hear the sweet whispers of 
peace and comfort for the rude noises of strife and 
debate. 

For the fourth cause; mistaken zeal hath caused 
many preachers to intermeddle too busily in their 
solemn discourses to the people, with controversies, 
not only theological but political too, with more re- 
spect to the interest of their party than that of reli- 
gion and the kingdom of Jesus. Thus contention 
grew, and faction thrived, and charity first left our 
pulpits and then our hearts: and while men were 



VII. 

i up with the consideration of mysteries, they 
cted plaiu necessary duties, and fell into the 
sink of all sin and impiety; like the Milesian philo- 
sopher, that with so much attention lift up his eyes 
to behold the stars, and consider their aspects, that 
neglecting the care of the way he walked in, he fell 
into the lake, where he ended his life and specula- 
te And this evil prevailed the more, because. 
In the fifth place, there hath been a want of siifli- 
mainten ancein many places of (lie land for the 
support of faithful and able ministers. Such, from 
their pulpits, might have rebuked this foolish spirit 
was gone forth, and knew how, by their doctrine 
and more edifying example, to preach obedience and 
practical religion, instead of sublime notions and 
38 mysteries, and empty controversies; and 
would esteem it more honour, and find more com- 
fort, in subduing one lust, than to have fathomed all 
'he depths of such knowledge. 

r.v all which it appears, that the disease is dange- 
i DOttgfa to need a remedy ; and that the reader 
hath many things beside his private concernments 
to make the maiter of Ins prayers, The way to ex* 
t -mpt bimeetf from the epidemical guilt of these e\ils, 
is, to contend against them bj prayer and practice; 

and that the right use of frit book mav be of some 

j so muet the growth of the t*iJ| 1 b**e thus 

much reason to warrant ni\ belief, be, SUSC il hath 
already been moiv th;ni oncost* w ell rntei lamed 

abroiol CeneevutDg which 1 will not weary the 

K K > 



vm. 

reader, (who hath already, I suspect, too often 
looked forward to see how far it is to the end of this 
address) to discourse to him of the author, or this 
work. His own pen has set him forth more, than 
now to need either panegyrick or testimonials. And 
the usefulness of the work I had rather the 
reader should understand by his own experience 
than mine. If he be devout, the title and design 
will invite his eye and please it too: if not, I have 
no temptation to add any more evidences and ag- 
gravation to his crime of scoffing religion and reli- 
gious books. 

If it be thought necessary that something may be 
said to compose the reader's mind concerning forms 
of prayer, because extemporary effusions are the 
only acceptable sacrifice, what use can there be of 
this essay? I shall only say this, that the truly pious 
reader may make use of this in his meditations, or 
other devotion, or as a pattern or directory to both. 
This, moreover, is manifest, the word of God is 
wholly silent in determining whether we should use 
forms of prayer or extempore ; and in other in- 
stances such silence is taken for an argument of in- 
differency. But however, the gift of prayer con- 
sists not in a volubility of tongue, and ready com- 
mand of words, (that hath supernatural, and this 
only natural, causes) but in the true affection and 
sincerity of the heart : for many graceless persons 
and mere hypocrites have been observed to excel in 
readiness of affectionate expression, and a great 



IX. 

command of scripture-phrase. But let the pious 
Christian seriously reflect upon his sins with a true 
and a growing sorrow, and work his heart into a 
deep affection of his wants, and a due apprehension 
of that majesty to whom he makes his address, (to 
which end he may receive great assistance from this 
book ;) and he who makes such preparation 
will want neither the gift nor reward of prayer, 
whether his prayers be set and composed, or extem- 
pore. And if I may but feel the best effects of the 
prayers of this book offered up to heaven with a 
spirit truly broken and humble, (if the Christian 
reader please to believe I deserve so much charity 
from him) I shall not be without reward, nor he use 
this book without benefit. 



A SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE 
autijor'g ilifc. 

CONCERNING those we love, we are curious 
to know all we cau. And if the stone be of price, 
we are not contented the least fragment should 
perish. Know then, that the Author of this Book 
was a gentleman of an ancient family. His father 
was James Quarks, of Rumford, Esq. clerk of the 
Green-cloth, and purveyor of the navy to Queen 
Elizabeth, younger brother to Sir Robert Quarles 
After his education at school in the country, and 
at Christ's College, in Cambridge, and last at Lin- 
coln's Inn, he was for some time cup-bearer to the 
Queen of Bohemia, and then secretary to the reve- 
rend and learned the late Lord Primate of Ireland; 
last of all Chronologer to the city London, in which 
office he died. And the world had known that by 
a more eminent testimony, if death had not kept him 
from fiuishing what he had designed and begun. He 
was the husband of one wife, and by her the father 
of eighteen children. As in his life he had been 
most religious, so was he in his death ; in both a 
great example of devotion. He died September 8, 
1644, being two and fifty years old, and lieth buried 
in the parish-church of St. Foster, London. 



JUDGMENT AND MERCY 

FOR AFFLICTED SOULS. 

PART 1. 



The sensual man's solace. 



COME, let us be merry and rejoice our souls in 
frolic and in fresh delights : let us screw onr pam- 
pered hearts a pitch beyond the reach of dull- 
browed sorrow : let us pass the slow-paced time in 
melancholy-charming mirth, and take the advan- 
"1 'our youthful days: let us banish care to the 
(hid Mti i»j phlegmatic old age: let a deep sigh be 
high treason, and let a solemn look be adjudged a 
crime too great for pardon. My serious studies 
shall be to draw mirth into a body, to analyse 
laughter, and to paraphrase upon the various texts 
of all delight My re c reations shall be, to still 
pleasure mto t qd i n teOS C n co, to reduce beauty to 
litr first principles) and to extract a perfect in* 
nocemc fVuiii tin,* milk-white doves of Venus. Why 
should 1 Bpecd my precious minutes in the >ullenand 
dejected shades of sadness? Or ravel out my short- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The sensual Man's Solace. 



lived clays in solemn and heart-breaking care? 
Hours have eagles wings, and when their hasty 
flight shall put a period to our numbered days, the 
world is gone with us, and all our forgotten joys 
are left to be enjoyed by the succeeding generations, 
and we are snatched, we know not how, we know 
not whither, and wrapt in the dark bosom of eternal 
night. Come then, my soul, be wise, make use of 
the time present: that which is gone is past recal- 
ling, lost, and not to be redeemed. Eat thy bread 
with a merry heart, and gulp down care in frolic 
cups of liberal wine. Beguile the tedious nights with 
dalliance, and steep thy stupid sense in unctions 
and delightful sports: 'tis all the portion that this 
transitory world can give thee. Let music, voices, 
masques, midnight revels, and all that malancholy 
wisdom censures vain, be thy delights ; and let the 
care-abjuring soul cheer up and sweeten the short 
days of thy consuming youtl;. Follow the ways of 
thy own heart, and take the freedom of thy sweet de- 
sires. Leave no delight untried, and spare no cost 
to heighten up thy lusts. Take pleasure in thy 
choice of pleasures, and please thy curious eyes with 
all varieties, to satisfy thy soul in all things which 
thy heart desires. But, my soul, when those evil 
days shall come wherein thy wasting pleasures shall 
present their items to thy bed-rid view, when all dis- 
eases and the evils of age shall muster up their 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



Hi* ProoA. 



forces in thy crazy bones, where be thy comforts 
then? 

HIS SENTENCE. 

Consider, O my soul, and know that the day will 
come, and after that another, wherein for all these 
things 

eccles. xi. 9. 

"God will bring thee to judgment." 



His proofs, 

prov. xiv. 13. 
"Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the 
end of that mirth is heaviness." 

eccles. ii. 1, 2. 
11 1 said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee 
with mirth, and therefore enjoy pleasure: and be- 
hold this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is 
mad ; and of mirth, what doth it? " 
JAMES, v. 5, 
11 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been 
wanton ; ye have nourished your hearts as in the 
day of slaughter." 

eccles. vii. 4. 
"The heart of the wise mau is in the house of mourn- 
ing : but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth/' 

No. II. 8 8 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy, 



ISID. IN SYNONYMIS. 

"Pleasure is an inclination to the unlawful objects 
of a corrupted mind, allured with a momentany 
sweetness." 

HUGO. 

" Sensuality is an immoderate indulgence of the 
,flesh, a sweet poison, a strong plague, a dangerous 
potion, which effeminates the body, and enervates 
the soul." 

CASS. lib. 4. EP. 

"They are mostsensible of the burthen of affliction 
that are most taken with the pleasures of the flesh." 



His soliloquy. 
What hast thou now to say, O my soul, 
why this judgment, seconded with divine proofs, 
backed with the harmony of holy men, should not 
proceed against thee? Dally no longer with thy 
own salvation, nor flatter thy own corruption. Re- 
member, the wages of flesh are sin, and the wages 
of sin death. God hath threatened it, whose judg- 
ments are terrible ; God hath witnessed it, whose 
words are truth. Consider then, my soul, and let 
not momentary pleasures flatter thee into eternity of 
torments. How many that have trod thy steps are 
now roaring in the flames of Hell? and yet thou tri- 
flest away the time of thy repentance. O my poor 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



deluded soul, presume no longer; repent to-day, 
test to-morrow come too late. Or couldst thou tra- 
vel out thy days beyond Methusalem, tell me, alas! 
what will eternity be the shorter for the deduction of 
a thousand years? Be wisely provident therefore, 
O my soul, and bid vanity, the common sorceress 
of the world, farewell. Life and death are yet be- 
fore thee; chnse life, and the God of life will seal 
thy choice. Prostrate thy self before him who de- 
lights not in the death of a sinner, and present thy 
petitions to him who can deny thee nothing in the 
name of a Saviour. 



His prayer. 

<> God, in the beauty of whose holiness is the true 

if those thatlove thee, the full happiness of those 

that fear thee, and the only rest of those that prize 

fo respect of#bich the transitory pleasures of the 

WOrld are less than nothing, in comparison of which 

greatest wisdom of the world is lolly, and the 

I of the earth but dross and dung; how dares 

my boldness thus presume to press into thy glorious 

What can my prayers expect but thy 

JOSI wrath and heavy indignation ? () uli;it return 

can the tainted breath of my polluted lips desert^, 

but to be bound hand and loot, and casl into the 

flames of Heir? But, Lord, the merit* of my Savi- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



our are greater than the offence nf a sinner, and 
the sweetness of thy mercy exceeds the sharpness of 
my misery. The honor of thy judgments hath seiz- 
ed upon me, and I languish through the sense of 
thy displeasure. I have forsaken thee the rest of my 
distressed soul, and set my affections upon the va- 
nity of the deceitful world; I have taken pleasure in 
my foolishness, and have vaunted myself in mine 
iniquity; I have nattered my soul with the honey of 
delights, whereby I am made sensible of the sting of 
my affliction : wherefore 1 loath and utterly abhor 
myself, and from the bottom of my heart repent in 
dust and ashes. Behold, O Lord, lam impure and 
vile, and have wallowed in the puddle of mine own 
corruptions. The sword of thy displeasure is drawn 
out, against me, and what shall I plead, O thou pre- 
server of mankind? Make me a new creature, O 
my God, and destroy the old man within me. Re- 
move my affections from the love of transitory things, 
that I may run the way of thy commandments. Turn 
away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and make 
thy testimonies my whole delight. Give me strength 
to discern the emptiness of the creature, and inebri- 
ate my heart with the fulness of thy joys. Be thou 
my portion, O God, at whose right hand stand plea- 
sures for evermore. Be thou t my refuge and my 
shield, and suffer me not to sink under the corrup- 
tions of my heart. Let notthe house of mirth be- 



BO\NERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The v.iin-:>lorioii- V! 



guile me, but give me a seu>e of the evil to come, 
pt the free-will offerings of my inouili, and 
grant my petitions for the honour of thy name. 
Then will I magnify thy mercies, O God, and praise 
thy name for ever and ever. 

S. lil.HMI'!'. 

"Delicate and tender members in come not a head 
stuck with thorns." 

ANONYM. 

"The pleasure of sin vanishes, the guilt remains, 
and the punishmeut is eternal." 



The vain-glorious man's vaunt. 
What tellest thou me of conscience or a pious 
They are good trades for a leaden spirit, that 
can stand benl to every frown, and wants the brains 

to make a higher fortune, or courage to atcbieve that 

bononr which might glorify their names, and write 
their memories in the cnrouicles of fame. *Tis true, 
liumilitv is a needful gift in those thai have no quality 
to exercise their pride; and patience is a necessary 
to keep the world in peace, and him that hath 
H in a whole skin, and often proves a virtue born of 
a mere necessity. Ami civil honesty is a fair pre- 
tencefor him that hath no wit to act the knave, and 
makes a man capable of a little higher style than 
fool. And blushing modesty is a pretty innocent 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The vain-giorious Man's Vaunt. 



quality, and serves to vindicate an easy nature from 
the imputation of all ill-breeding. These are infe- 
rior graces, that have not got a good opinion in the 
dull wisdom of the world, and appear like water 
among the elements, to moderate the body politic, 
and keep it from combustion ; nor do they come 
into the work of honour. Virtue consists in action, 
and the reward of action is glory. Glory is the great 
soul of the little world, and is the crown of all sub- 
lime attempts, and the point whereto the crooked 
ways of policy are all concentric. Honour consists 
not with a pious life. Let those that are ambitious 
of a religious reputation abjure all honourable titles, 
and let their dough-baked spirits take a pride in suf- 
ferance (the auvil of all injuries) and be thankfully 
baffled into a quiet pilgrimage. Rapes, murders, 
treasons, dispossessions, riots, are venial things to 
men of honour, and oft co-incident in high pursuits. 
Had my dull conscience stood upon such nice points, 
that little honour I have won had glorified some 
other arm, and left me begging morsels at his 
princely gates. Come, come, my soul, Id factum 
juvat, quod fieri non licet. Fear not to do, what 
crowns thee being done. Ride on with thy honour, 
and create a name to live with fair eternity. Enjoy 
thy purchased glory as the merit of thy renowned 
actions, and let thy memory entail it to succeeding 
generations. Make thy own game: and if thy con- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 






science check thee, correct thy saucy conscience, 
till she stand as mute as metamorphosed Niobe. 
Fear not the frowns of princes, or the imperious 
hand of various fortune: Thou art too bright for the 
one to obscure, and too great for the other to cry 
down. 

His VERDICT, 

But hark, my soul, I hear a voice that thunder- 
in mine ear. 

nos. iv. 7. 
"I will change their glory into shame." 



His proofs, 

psai.m lxix. 20. 
that is born in honour and understandeth 
not, is like the beasts that perish." 

PROVKRUS XXV. '27. 

11 It n not irood to eat too much honey: so for men 
earch their own glory is not glory." 
IERBM1AH i\. '23. 
1 Tims saith the Lord, Let not the wise mansion 
m his wisdom, neither let the mighty men gfory in 

Ins might, nor l<-t the rich man -lory in his riches : 
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he under- 
standeth and kuoweth me, that I am the Lord." 

GAL. V. 'l('). 

44 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, &c. " 



10 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 
S. AUGUST. 

"The vain glory of the world is a deceitful sweet- 
ness, an unfruitful labour, a perpetual fear, a dan- 
gerous bravery, begun without providence, and 
finished not without repentance." 

CHRYSOST. 

"If thou desire to be magnified and accounted ho- 
nourable, despise honour, so shalt thou be honour- 
ed even of all." 

s GREG. 

"He that makes transitory honour the reward of a 
good work, sets eternal glory at a low rate." 



His soliloquy. 
Vain glory is a froth, which blown off discovers 
a great want of measure. Canst thou, O my soul, 
be guilty of such an emptiness, and not be challenged ? 
Canst thou appear in the searching eye of 
Heaven, and not expect to be cast away? De- 
ceive not thyself, O my soul, nor flatter . thyself 
with thine own greatness. Search thyself to 
the bottom, and thou shalt find enough to hum- 
ble thee. Dost thou glory in the favour of a prince? 
The frowns of a priuce determine it. Dost thou 
glory in thy strength? A poor ague betrays it. 
Dost thou glory in thy wealth? The hand of a 
thief extinguishes it. Behold, my soul, how like a. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 11 



His Pmvtr. 



bubble thon appearest, and with a sigh break into 
sorrow. The gate of Heaven is strait; canst thou 
hope to enter without breaking? The bubble thai 
would pass the flood-gates must first dissolve. My 
soul, melt then in tears, and empty thyself of all 
thy vanity, and tliou shalt fiiul divine repletion; 
orate in thy devotion, and thou shalt recruit 
thy greatness to eternal glory. 
ANONYM. 
" Remember, O man, from whence thou Wert 
taken, and that thou art brother to the dunghill. 1 * 



His prayer. 

And can I chuse, O God, but tremble at thy 
judgments? Or can my stony heart not stand 
amazed at thy throatuings? It is thy voice, (J 
God, and thou hast spoken it: It is th\ voice, O 
God, and I have heard it. Hadst thou so dealt 
by me as thou didst by Babel's proud King, and 
driven me from the sons of men, thou hadst but done 
accordiim to thy righteousness, and rewarded me 
according to ray deserving*, What couldst thou 
see in roc U Sfl worthy of thy vengeance, than in him 
tin ! example of thy justice? or, Lord, wherein am 
1 mON incapable of thy indignation? There if no- 
thing in me to move thy mercy but my misery. Thy 

T T 



12 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

■ ■ ■' -• " • ■ : ■ ■■,-■■■ ===== 

His Prayer. 

goodness is thyself, and hath no ground but what 
proceedeth from itself: yet have I sinned against 
that goodness, and have thereby heaped up wrath 
against the day of wrath; insomuch that, had not 
thy grace abounded with my sin, I had long since 
been confounded in my sin, and swallowed up in 
the gulf of thy displeasure. But, Lord, thou tak est 
no delight to punish, and with thee is no respect of 
persons : Thou takest no pleasure in the confusion 
of thy creature, but rejoicest rather in tbe conver- 
sion cf a sinner. Convert me therefore, O God, I 
shall be then converted : Make me sensible of my 
own corruptions, that I may see the vileness of my 
own condition. Pull down the pride of my ambi- 
tious heart; humble me, thou O God, and I shall 
be humbled ; wean me from tbe thirst of tran- 
sitory honour, and let my whole delight be to glory 
in thee. Touch thou my conscience with the fear of 
thy name, that in all my actions I may fear to oflfend 
thee. Endue me, Lord, with the spirit of meek- 
ness, and teach me to overcome evil with a patient 
heart: moderate and curb the exorbitances of my 
passion, and give me a temperate use of all thy crea- 
tures. Replenish my heart with the graces of thy 
spiiit, that in all my ways I may be acceptable in 
thy sight. In all conditions give me a contented 
mind, and upon all occasions grant me a grateful 
heart; that honouring thee here in the church indi- 



BOANEHGES AND BAfcNABAS. 13 



The Oppressor's Plea. 



tant before men, 1 may be glorified hereafter in the 
church triumphant before thee and Angels; where, 
filled with true glory according to the measure of 
grace thou shall be pleased to give me here, I may 
with Angels and Arch-angels praise thy name for 
ever and ever hereafter. 

s. CHRYSOST. 

"They who have despised all the temptations of 
riches, and have defiled themselves with no worldly 
imagination, and have nobly resisted the strong im- 
pulses of concupiscence, oftentimes being overcome 
with vain glory, have lost all." 



The oppressor s plea. 

I seek but what is my own by law ; It was his 

own free act and deed : The execution lies for goods 

or body, and goods or body I will have, or else my 

money. What if his beggerly children pine, or his 

d wife perish? They perish at their own 

charge, not mine; and what is that to me? I must 

be paid, or he lie by it until 1 have my utmost far- 

tliiuir, or his bones. The law is just and good, and 

being ruled by that, how can my fair proceedings be 

unjust? What is thirty in the hundred to a man of 

3 Are we born to thrum caps or pick straws? 

and sell our livelihood for a few tears, and a whin- 

tt2 



14 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

" ' ■"■" '»' ■ ■ 

The Oppressor's Plea. 

i ... ^ 

ing face? I thank God they move tne not so much 
as a howling dog at midnight. I'll give no day if 
heaven itself would be security : I must have present 
money, or his bones. The commodity was good 
enough, as wares went then ; and had he had but a 
thriving wit, with the necessary help of a good 
merchantable conscience, he might have gained, 
perchance, as much as now he lost: but howsoever, 
gain, or not gain, I must have my money. Two 
tedious terms my dearest gold hath lain in his un- 
profitable hands. The cost of suits hath made me 
bleed above a score of royals, besides my interest, 
travel, half-pints, and bribes; all which does but in- 
crease my beggarly defendant's damages, and sets 
him deeper on my score : but rights right, and I 
will have my money or his bones. Fifteen shillings 
in the pound composition! I'll hang first. Come, 
tell not me of a good conscience : a good conscience 
is no parcel of my trade; it hath made more bank- 
rupts than all the loose wives in the universal city. 
My conscience is no fool : It tells me that my own's 
my own, and that a well crammed bag is no deceitful 
friend, but will stick close to me when all my friends 
forsake me. If to gain a good estate out of nothing, 
and to regain a desperate debt, which is as good as 
nothing, be the fruits and sign of a good conscience, 
God help the good. Come, tell not me of griping 
and oppression. The world is hard, and he that 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 16 



His Proofs. 



hopes to thrive, must gripe as hard. AVhat I give I 
give, and what I lend 1 lend. If the way to heaven 
be to turn beggar upon earth, let them take it that 
like it. I know not what you call oppression; the 
law is my direction ; but of the two it is more profit- 
able to oppress than to be oppressed. If debtors 
would be honest, and discharge, our hands were 
bound; but when their failings offend my bags, 
they touch the apple of my eye, and I must right 
them. 

But ha ! what voice is this that whispers in mine 
ear? 

His punishment. 

"The Lord will spoil the soul of the oppressors." 
Prov. xxii. 23. 



His proofs. 

prov. xxii. 22. 23. 

"Rob not the poor because he his poor, neither 

Oppress the afflicted in the gates: for the Lord will 

plead their cause, and spoil the soul of them that 

have spoiled him.*' 

r.zr.K. xxii. 2. r >, 31. 
"The people of the land have used oppression, 
and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and 
needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrong- 
fully: therefore,! have poured out my indignation 



IB BOANERGS AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloqny. 



upon them, I have consumed them with the fire of 
my wrath/' 

zech. vii. 9, &c. 
"Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and 
compassion every man to his brother, and oppress 
not the widow nor the fatherless, nor the stranger, 
nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil in your 
hearts against his brother. But they refused to 
hearken; therefore came a great wrath from the 
Lord of Hosts." 



BERN. p. 1691. 
•* We ought so to care for ourselves, as not to neg- 
lect the due regard of our neighbour." 
bern. Ibid. 
" He that is not merciful to another shall not find 
mercy from God : but if thou wilt be merciful and 
compassionate, thou shall be a benefactor to thy 
own soul." 



His soliloquy. 
Is it wisdom in thee, O my soul, to covet a hap- 
piness, or rather to account it so, that is sought for 
with a judgment, obtained with a curse, and punish- 
ed with damnation ; and to neglect that good which 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 17 

His Prayer. 

■ 

is assured with a promise, purchased with a bles- 
sing, and rewarded with a crown of glory? Canst 
thou hold it a full estate, a good pennyworth, which 
is bought with the dear price of thy God's displea- 
sure? Tell uie, What continuance can that inheritance 
promise that is raised upon the ruins of thy brother? 
Or what mercy canst thou expect from heaven, that 
hast denied all mercy to thy neighbour? O my hard- 
hearted soul, consider, and relent: build not an 
house whose posts are subject to be rotted with a 
curse : consider what the God of truth hath threat- 
ened against thy cruelty: relent and turn compassion- 
ate, that thou mayest be capable of his compassion. 
If the desire of gold have hardeued thy heart, let the 
tears of true repentance mollify it: soften it with 
Aaron's ointment, until it become like wax, to tike 
tin- impression of that seal which must confirm thj 
pardon. 

prov. v. 15. 
" Drink waters out of thine own cistern." 



Mis prayer. 
But will my God be now entreated? Is not my cry- 
ing sin too loud for pardon? Am I not sunk too deep 
into the jaws of hell, for thy strong arm to rescue? 
Hath not the hardness of my heart made me inca- 



18 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

pable of thy compassion? O if my tears might wash 
away my sins, my head should turn a living spring. 
Lord, I have heard thee speak, and am afraid ; the 
word is past, and thy judgments have found me 
out. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, 
and the jaws of hell have overwhelmed me. I have 
oppressed the poor, and added affliction to the af- 
flicted, and the voice of their misery is come before 
thee. They besought me with tears, and in the 
anguish of their souls, but I have stopt mine ears 
against the cry of their complaint. But, Lord, thou 
walkest not the ways of man, and rememberest mercy 
in the midst of thy wrath ; for thou art good and 
gracious, and ready to forgive, aud plenteous in 
compassion to all that shall call upon thee. For- 
give me, O God, my sins that are past, and deliver 
me from the guilt of my oppression. Take from me, 
O God, this heart of stone, and create in me a heart 
of flesh. Assuage the vehemency of my desires to 
the things below, and satisfy my soul with the suf- 
ficiency of thy grace. Inflame my affections, that 1 
may love thee with a filial love ; aud incline me to 
rely upon thy fatherly providence. Let me account 
godliness my greatest gain, and subdue in me my 
lusts after filthy lucre. Preserve me, O Lord, from 
the vanity of self-love, and plant in my affections the 
true love of my neighbours. Endue my heart with 
the bowels of compassion, and then reward me ac- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 19 

The Drunkard's Jubilee. 

cording to thy righteousness. Direct me, O God, 
iu the ways of my life, and let a good conscience be 
my continual comfort. Give me a willing heart to 
make restitution of what I have wrongfully gotten by 
oppression. Grant me a lawful use of all thy crea- 
tures, and a thankful heart for all thy benefits. Be 
merciful to all those that groan under the burthen of 
their own wants, and give them patience to expect 
thy deliverance. Give me a heart that may ac- 
knowledge thy favors, and (ill my tongue with praise 
and thanksgiving: that living here a new life, I may 
become a new creature; and being ingrafted in tlj,pe 
by the power of thy grace, I may bring forth fruit to 
thy honour and glory. ^ 

S. rilRYSOST. 

"God is not honoured in the e.vpence of that 
money which is bedewed with theiears of the op- 

SOL. 

" lie that oppresseth the poor apbraideth his 



y/ic drunkard's jubilee. 
\Yh \t compliment will the Beverer world allow to 
the vacant hour? ofrrolic-hearted youth? How shall 
Ihe'ir free, their jovial spirits entertain Iheir time, 
their friends? What oil fball be infused ml 
lamp of dear society, if they deny the prh I 



l. L 



20 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The Drunkard's Jubilee. 

civil rejoicing cup ? It is the life, the radical humour 
of united souls: whose love-digestive heat even ripens 
and ferments the green materials of a plighted faith ; 
without the help whereof new married friendship 
falls into divorce, and joined acquaintance soon re- 
solves into the first elements of strangeness. What 
mean these strict reformers thus to spend their 
hour-glasses, and bawl against our harmless cups? 
to call our meetings riots, and brand our civil mirth 
with stiles of loose intemperance? when they can 
sit at a sister's feast, devour and gormandize beyond 
excess, aud wipe the guilt from off their marrowed 
mouths, and clothe their surfeits in the long fustian 
robes of a tedious grace. Is it not much better in a 
fair friendly round (since youth must have a swing) 
to steep our soul-afflicting sorrows in a chirping cup, 
than hazard ouj; estates upon the abuse of providence 
in a foolish cast at dice? or at a cock-pit leave our 
doubtful fortunes to the mercy of unmerciful conten- 
tion ? or spend our wanton days in sacrificing costly 
presents to a fleshly idol ? Was not wine given to 
exhilarate the drooping hearts, and raise the drowsy 
spirits of dejected souls? Is not the liberal cup of 
the sucking bottle of the sons of Phoebus, to solace 
and refresh their palates in the gights of sad inven- 
tion? Let dry-brained zealots spend their idle 
breaths; my cups shall be my cordials, to restore 
my care befeebled heart to the true temper of a 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 21 



His Proofs, 



well-complexioned mirth. My solid brains are po- 
tent, and can bear enough, without the least offence 
to my distempered senses, or interruption of my 
boon companions. My tongue can, in t^e very ze- 
nith of my cups, deliver the expressions of my com- 
posed thoughts with better sense than these my grave 
reformers can their best advised prayers. My con- 
stitution is pot-proof, and strong enough to make a 
fierce encounter with the most stupendious vessel 
that ever sailed upon the tides of Bacchus. My 
reason shrinks not; my passion burns not. 

O but, my soul, I hear a threatening voice that 
interrupts my language. 

ESAY V. 22. 

" Woe be to them that are mighty to drink 
win. 



His proofs. 

l'KUV. XX. 1. 

"Wink is a mocker; strong drink is raging: and 

whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.*' 
E8AY v. II. 
" Woe i>e to them that rise up early in the morning 
to follow strong drink; that continue till night, until 
wine inflame them. ' 

PfcOV. xxiii. -Ju. 
*' Be not amongst wine bibbers." 
i D 2 



22 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 
1 COR. V. 11. 

"Now I have written unto you, not to keep com- 
pany ; if any that is called a brother be a drunkard, 
with such a one no not to tat." 



AUG. IN LIB. POEN. 

" Whilst the drunkard swallows wine, wine swal- 
lows him; God disregards hiro, angels despise him, 
men deride him, virtue declines him, the devil de- 
stroys him." 

AUG. AD SAC. VIRG. 

"Drunkenness is the mother of all evil, the mat- 
ter of all mischief, the well-spring of all vices, the 
trouble of the senses, the tempest of the tongue, the 
shipwreck of chastity, the consumption of time, a 
voluntary madness, the corruption of manners, the 
-distemper of the body, and the destruction of the 
soul." 



His soliloquy. 
My soul, it is the voice of God, digested into a 
judgment. There is no kicking against pricks, or 
arguing against a divine truth. Pleadest thou cus- 
tom? Custom in sin multiplies it. Pleadest thou 
society? Society in the offence aggravates the pu- 
nishment. Pleadest thou help to invention? Woe 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 23 

His Prayer. ^ 

■■• ■ - - 

be to that barrenness that wants such showers. 
Pleadest thou strength to bear much wine ? Woe 
to those that are mighty to drink strong drink. My 
$oul, thou hast sinned against iliy Creator, in abu- 
sing that creature he made to serve thee ; Thou hast 
sinned against the creature, in turning it to the 
tor's dishonour ; thou hasl .sinned against thy- 
self, in making thy comfort thy confusion. How 
many want that blessing thou hast turned into a 
: How many thirst whilst thou surfeitest? 
What satisfaction wilt thou give to the Creator, to 
the creature, to thyself, against all whom thou hast 
e(I ? To thyself, by a sober life; to the 
creature, by a right use; to thy Creator, by a true 
repentance ; the way to all which is prayer and 
thanksgiving. 

Jlis prayer. 
How truly then, O <.od, this heavy woe belongs 
to this my boasted v -in ? How many judgments are 
MlRipri i led in this woe, and all for 

me, even me. Kj God, the miserable subject of thy 
eternal wrath ; even me, O Lord, the- mark whereat 
the shalU of ihv u>> pleasure level? Lord, I was a 
sinner in ii. \ I . ption, and in sin hath my 

mother brought me forth : 1 «ras do loooer horn, but 1 
B slave to sin; and all my life is nothing but the 



24 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

^ His Prayer. 

practice and trade of high rebellion. I have turned 
thy blessings into thy dishonour, and all thy graces 
into wantonness. Yet hast thou been my God, even 
from the very womb, and didst sustain me when I 
hung upon my mother's breast. Thou hast washed 
me, O Lord, from my pollution ; but like a swine 
I have returned to my mire. Thou hast glanced in- 
to my breast the blessed motions of thy holy Spirit, 
but I have quenched them with the spring-tides of 
my in-born corruption. I have vomited up myfilthi- 
ness before thee, and like a dog have I returned to 
my vomit. Be merciful, O God, unto me. Have 
mercy on me, O thou Son of David. I cannot, O 
Lord, expect the children's bread ; yet suffer me to 
lick the crumbs that fall beneath their table. I that 
have so oft abused the greatest of thy blessings, am 
not worthy of the mfhnest of thy favors. Look, look 
upon me, according to the goodness of thy mercy, 
and not according lo the greatness of my offences. 
Give me, O God, a sober heart, and a lawful mode- 
ration in the enjoyment of thy creatures. Reclaim 
my appetite from unseasonable delights, lest I turn 
thy blessings into a curse. In all my dejection be 
thou my comfort, and let my rejoicing be only in 
thee. Prepose to mine eyes the evilness of my days, 
and make me careful to redeem my time. Wean me 
from the pleasure of vain society, and let my com- 
panions be such as fear thee. Forgive all such as. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 26 



The Swearer's Apology. 



have been partners in my sin, and turn their hearts 
to the obedience of thy laws. Open their ears to the 
reproofs of the wise, and make Aem powerful in re- 
formation. Allay that lust which my intemperance 
hath inflamed, and cleanse my affections with the 
grace of thy good spirit. Make me thankful for the > 
strength of my body, that I may for the time to come 
return it to the advantage of thy glory, 
s. AUGUST. 

" It is most shameful, that lust should subdue him 
whom the strength of man cannot: that he should be 
overcome with wine, that scorns to stoop to another's 
sword." 
^ ecclus. xxxi. 23. 

11 Shew not thy valiantness in wine, for wine hath 
destroyed many. 1 ' 



77/c swearer'* apology. 
Wiil Boanerges never tease? And will these 
plague-denouncers never have to thunder judgments 

in my trembling ear? Nothing but plagues? Nothing 
but judgments? Nothing but damnation? What 

■ate I done to make my case desperate? And what 
bate tiny not done to make my soul despair? Have 
I set up false Gods like the Egyptians? Or have I 

bowed ImI'uiv them like the Israelites? Have 1 vio- 
lated the sabbath like the libertines/? Or, like 

f ' 41 

4 



26 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The Swearer's Apology. 



cursed Cham, have I discovered my father's naked- 
ness ? Have I embrued my hands in blood like 
Barabbas ? Or, Jj^e Absalom defiled my father's 
bed ? Have I like Jacob, supplanted my elder 
brother ? Or, like Ahab, intruded into Naboth's 
♦vineyard ? Havel borne false witness like the wanton 
elders ? Or like David coveted Uriah's wife ? Have 
I not given tithes of all I have ? Or, hatb my purse 
been hide-bound to my hungry brother? Hath not 
my life been blameless before men ? and my de- 
meanour unreprovable before the world ? Have I 
not hated vice with a perfect hatred ? and counte- 
nanced virtue with a due respect ? What mean these 
strict observers of my life, to ransack every action,, 
to carp at every word, and with their sharp censo- 
rious tongues to sentence every frailty with damna- 
tion ? Is there no allowance to humanity ? No grains 
to flesh and blood? Are we all angels? Has mor- 
tality no privilege to supersede it from the utmost 
"punishment of a little necessary frailty ? Come, 
come, my soul, let not these judgment-thunders 
fright thee: let not these qualms of their exuberant 
zeal disturb thee. Thou hast not cursed like Shimei, 
nor railed like Rabshakeh, nor lied like Ananias, 
nor slandered like thy accusers. They that censure 
thy Gnats swallowed their own Camels. What if 
the luxuriant style of thy discourse do chance to 
strike upon an obvious oath ? art thou strai|fet hur- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 27 

His Arraignment. — His pi 

ried into the bosom of a plague ? What if the custom 
o/ a harmless oath should captivate thy heedless 
tongue? can nothing under sudden judgment seize 
upon thee ? What if another's diffidence should 
force thy earnest lips into a hasty oath, in confirma- 
tion of a suffering truth ? must thou be straightways 
branded with damnation ? Was Joseph marked for 
everlasting death, for swearing by the life of Egypt's 
king ? Was Peter, when he so denied his Master, 
straight damned for swearing, and forswearing ? O 
flatter not thyself, my soul, nor turn thou advocate 
to so high a sin : make not the slips of saints a pre- 
cedent for thee to fall. 

His arraignment. 
If the rebukes of flesh may not prevail, hear then 
the threatening of the Spirit, which saith, "The 
plague shall not depart from the house of the 
swearer." 



His proofs. 

EXOD. XX. 7. 

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guilt- 
less that taketh his name in vain." 

ZECH. V. 3. 

u And every one that sweareth shall be cut off." 



26 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy. 



MATT. V. 34, &C. 

" Swear not at all : neither by heaven, for it is'God's 
throne ; nor by earth, for it is his footstool ; but let 
your communications be yea, yea, nay, nay; for 
whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." 
jer. xxiii. 10. 

" Because of swearing the land mourneth." 



AUGUST. IN SER. 

" The murderer killeth the body of his brother; 
but the swearer murders his own soul." 

AUGUST. IN PSAL. lxXXviH. 

" It is well that God hath forbidden man to swear, 
lest by custom of swearing, (inasmuch as we are apt 
to mistake) we commit perjury: there is none but 
God can safely swear, because there is no other but 
maybe deceived." 

AUGUST. DE MENDACIO. 

" I say unto you, Swear not at all : lest by swearing 
ye come to a facility of swearing, from a facility to a 
custom, and from a custom ye fall into perjury." 



His soliloquy, 
O What a judgment is here! How terrible! 
How full of execution ! The plague! the extract of 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 29 

His Prayer. 

all diseases ! none so mortal. Done so comfortless ! 
it makes our house a prison, our friends strangers. 
No comfort but in the expectations of the mouth's 
end. But this judgment excludes that comfort 
too ; the plague shall never depart from the house of 
th What never? Death will give it a pe- 

I No, but it shall he entailed upon his house, 

y, O detestable! O destructive sin! that 
cross upon the doors of generations, and 
lays v. hole families upon the dust. A sin whereto 
neither profit incites, nor pleasure allures, nor neces- 
sitv compels, nor inclination of nature persuades ; a 
voluntary, begun with a malignant [imitation, 
and continued with an habitual presumption. Con- 
sider, O my soul, every oath hath been a nail to 
wound that Saviour whose blood (O mercy above 
expression !) must save thee: be sensible of thy ac- 

Umus and his sufferings : 'abhor thyself in dust and 

. and magnify his mercy that hath turned this 

judgment from thee. Go, wash those wounds which 

thou hast made with tears, and humble thyself with 

prater and true* repentance. 



His prayer. 
Eternal and omnipotent God, before whose glo- 

oame angelfl and archangels bow and hide their 



\ \ -1 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



faces, to which the blessed spirits and saints of thy 
triumphant church sing forth perpetual hallelujahs; 
I, a poor sprig of disobedient Adam, do here make 
bold to take that holy name into my sin-polluted 
lips. I haveheinously sinned, O God, against thee, and 
against it ; I have disparaged it in my thoughts, dis- 
honoured it in my words, profaned it in my actions ; 
and I know thou art a jealous God, and a consuming 
fire, as faithful in thy promises, so fearful in thy judg- 
ments. I therefore fly from the dreadful name of 
Jehovah, which I have abused, to that gracious name 
of Jesus, wherein thou art well pleased : In that 
most sacred name, O God, I fall^ before thee, and 
for his beloved sake, O Lord, I come unto thee. 
Cleanse thou my heart, O God, and then my tongue 
shall praise thee: wash thou my soul, O Lord, and 
then my lips shall bless thee. Work in my heart a 
fear of thy displeasure, and give mean awful reverence 
of thy name. Set thou a watch before my lips, that 
I offend not with my tongue. Let no respects en- 
tice me to be an instrument of thy dishonour, and 
let thy attributes be precious in my eyes : teach me 
the way of thy precepts, O Lord, and make me sen- 
sible of all my offences. Let not my sinful custom 
in sinning against thy name take from my guilty soul 
the sense of my sin. Give me respect unto all thy 
commandments; but especially preserve me from the 
danger of this my bosom sin. Mollify my heart at 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 31 



His Praver. 



the rebukes of thy servants, and strike into my in- 
ward parts a fear of thy judgments. Let all my 
communication be ordered as in thy presence, and 
let the words of my mouth be governed by thy Spi- 
rit. Avert those judgments from me which thy word 
hath threatened, and my sin hath deserved, and 
strengthen my resolution for the time to come. 
Work in me a true godly sorrow, that it may bring- 
forth in me a newness of life. Sanctify my thoughts 
with tbecontinual meditation of thy commandments, 
and mortify those passions which provoke me to of- 
fend thee. Let not the examples of others induce 
ine to this sin, nor let the frailties of my flesh seek 
fig leaves to cover it. Seal in my heart the full as- 
surance of thy reconciliation, and look upon me in 
the bowels of compassion ; that crowning my weak 
desires H'ith thy all-sufficient power, I may escape 
this judgment which thy justice hath threatened 
here, and obtain that happiness thy mercy hath pro- 
mised hereafter. 

s. ( n KH sost. 
"There is none that uscth to swear often, hut will 
sometimes chance to for>\\rar : as he that gives the 
rcms to his tongue too much, often speaks that 
which he blushes for in silence." 



32 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The Procrastinator's Remora's. 

The procrastinators remora's. 
Tell me no more of fasting, prayer, and death : 
they fill my thoughts with dumps of melancholy. 
These are no subjects for a youthful ear ; no con- 
templation for an active soul. Let them whom sul- 
len age hath weaned from airy pleasures, whom way- 
ward fortune hath condemned to sighs and groans, 
whom sad diseases have beslaved to drugs and diets ; 
let them consume the remnant of their wretched days 
in dull devotion, Let them afflict their aching souls 
with the -untunable discourses of mortality ; let them 
contemplate on evil days, and read sharp lectures 
of their own experience. For me, my bones are full 
of unctuous marrow, and my blood of sprightly 
youth. My fair and free estate secures from the 
fears of fortune's frown. My strength of constitution 
hath the power to grapple with sorrow, ^ickness, 
nay the very pangs of death, and overcome. 'Tis 
true, God must be sought: what impious tongue 
dare be so basely bold to contradict so known a 
truth? And by repentance too: what strange im- 
piety dare deny it ? or what presumptuous lips dare 
disavow it ? But there is a time for all things, yet none 
prefixt for this, no day designed ; but, at what time 
soever. If my unseasonable heart should seek him 
now, the work would be too serious for so green a 
seeker. My thoughts are yet unsettled, my fancy 
yet too too gamesome, and my judgment yet un- 
sound, iny will unsanctified. To seek him with an 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 33 

His Repulse. 

unprepared heart is the high way not to find him ; or 
to find him with unsettled resolution is the next way 
to lose him; and indeed it wants but little of profane- 
ness, to be unseasonably religious. What is once 
to be done, is long to be deliberated. Let the boil- 
in u pleasures of the rebellious flesh evaporate a little, 
and let me drain my boggy soul from those corrup- 
ted in-bred humours of collupsed nature: and when 
the tender blossom of my youthful vanity shall begin 
to fade, my settled understanding will begin to knot, 
my solid judgment will begin to ripen, my rightly- 
guided will will be resolved, both what to seek, and 
when to find, and how to prize: till then my tender 
youth, in her pursuit, will be disturbed with every 
blast of honour, diverted with every flash of pleasure, 
misled by counsel, turned back with fear, puzzled 
with doubt, interrupted by passion, withdrawn with 
prosperity, and discouraged with adversity. 
His repulse. 
Take heed, my soul : when thou hast lost thy 
self in thy journey, how wilt thou find thy God at 
thy jOUmeyS end ? whom thou hast lost by +00 long 
.. thou wilt hardly find with too late a diligence. 
Take time while time shall serve: that day may 

come w herein, 

Hos. v. *). 

"Thou shalt seek the Lord, but shalt not find 

him." 



34 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Proofs. 

His proofs. 

ESAY lv. 6. 

" Seek the Lord while he may be found ; call up- 
on him while he is near." 

heb. xii. 17. 
" He found no place for repentance, though he 
sought it with tears carefully," 
luke xii. 20. 
"Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required 
of thee." 

REVEL, ii. 21. 

" I gave her a space to repent, but she repented 
not : behold therefore I will cast her. &c." 



GREG. LIB. MOR. 

" Seek God whilst thou canst not see him ; for 
when thou seest him, thou canst not find him : seek 
him by hope, and thou shalt find him by faith. In 
the day of grace he is invisible, but near ; in the day 
of judgment he is visible, but far off." 
BERN. ser. 24. 

" If we would not seek God in vain, let us seek 
him in truth, often and constantly: let us not seek 
another thing instead of him, nor any other thing 
with him, nor for any other thing leave him." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy.— His Prayer. 



Jlis soliloquy. 
O my soul, tlmu hast sought wealth, and hast 
either not found it, or cares with it: thou hast sought 
for pleasure, and hast found it, but no comfort in 
it: thou soughtest honour, and hast found it, and 
perchance fallen with it: thou soughtest friendship, 
and has tumid it false; society, and hast fouud it 
vain. And yel thy God, the fountain of all wealth, 
pleasure, honour, friendship and society, thou hast 
slighted as a toy not worth the finding. Be wise, 
Dul, and blu.sh at thy own folly. Set thy de- 
sires on the right object. Seek wisdom, and thou 
shalt find knowledge, and wealth, and honour, and 
length of dajs. Seek heaven, and earth shall seek 
tli« j <-; and d» f» *r not thy inquest, lest thou lose thy 
opportunity. To day thou mayest find him whom 
t<> morrow thou mayest seek with tears, and miss. 
N . sterda} is too late, to-morrow is uncertain, today 
ily thine. But, my soul, I fear me too long 
delay hath made this da) too late. Tear not, my 
soul: he that has given thee bis grace to day will 
t thj neglect of yesterday i seek him, therefore, 
bj true repentance, and thou shalt find him in thy 
praj 

I lis prayer. 
<> God, that like thy precious word are hid to 
but who are lost, and yet are found by all that 
N • 12. I \ 



36 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



seek thee with an upright heart, cast down thy gra- 
cious eye upon a lost sheep of Israel, strayed through 
the vanity of his unbridled youth, and wandered in 
the wilderness of his own invention. Lord, I have 
too much delighted in mine own ways, and have put 
the evil day too far from me. I have wallowed in 
the pleasures of this deceitful world, which perish 
in the using, and have neglected thee my God, at 
whose right hand are pleasures for evermore. I 
have drawn on iniquity as with cart-ropes, and have 
committed evil with greediness. I have quenched 
the motions of thy good spirit, and have delayed to 
seek thee by true and unfeigned repentance. In- 
stead of seeking thee whom I have lost, 1 have with- 
drawn myself from thy presence when thou hast 
sought for me. It were but justice therefore in thee 
to stop thine ears at my petitions, or turn my prayers 
as sin into my bosom. But, Lord, thou art a gra- 
cious God, and full of pity and unwearied compas- 
sion, and thy loving-kindness is from generation to 
generation. Lord, in uot seeking thee I have utterly 
lost myself, and if thou find me not, I am lost for ever; 
and if thou find ine, thou canst not but find me in my 
sins, and then thou findest me to my own destruc- 
tion. How miserable, O Lord is my condition ! 
How necessary is my confusion that have neglected 
to seek thee, and therefore am afraid to be found of 
thee ! But, Lord, if thou look upon the all-sufficient 



BOANERGES AND BARNABVS. 



The Hypocrite's Prevarication. 



merits of thy son, thy justice will he no loser in 
shewing mercy upon a sinner. In his name, there- 
fore, I present myself before thee; in his merits 1 
make my humble approach unto thee: in his name 
I offer up my feeble prayers; for his merits grant 
me my petitions. Call not to mind the rebellions of 
ray flesh, and remember not, O God, the vanities of 
my youth. Inflame my heart with the love of thy 
presence, and relish my meditations with the plea- 
sure of thy sweetness. Let not the consideration of 
thy justice overwhelm me in despair, nor the medi- 
tation of thy mercy persuade me to presume. Sanc- 
tify my will by the wisdom of thy spirit, that I may 
the chiefest good. Quicken my desires 
with a fervent zeal, that I may seek my Creator in 
the days of my youth. Teach me to seek thee ac- 
cording to thy will, and then be found according 
to thy promise ; that living in me here by thy grace, 
I may hereafter reign with thee in glory. 

GREO. 

" God that hath promised pardon to the penitent, 
hath not promised the respite of to-morrow to the 
impenitent sinuer." 

TJu hypocrite's prevarication. 

Tin. in. is no such stull" i<> make a cloak on as reli- 
gion; nothing 10 fashionable, nothing so profitable : 
it is a livery wherein a wise man may serve two 

\ \ -1 



38 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The Hypocrite's Prevarication. 



wasters, God and the world, and make a gainful ser- 
vice by either. I serve both, and in both myself, in 
prevaricating with both. Before man, none serves 
his God with more severe devotion, for which among 
the best of men I work my own ends and serve my- 
self. In private I serve the world, not with so strict 
devotion, but with more delight, where fulfilling of 
her servant's lusts I work my end and serve myself. 
The house of prayer who more frequents than I ? — 
Jn all Christian duties who more forward than 1 ? — 
1 fast with those that fast, that I may eat with those 
that eat: I mourn with those that mourn. No hand 
more open to the cause than mine, and in their families 
none prays longer and with louder zeal. Thus when 
the opinion of a holy life hath cried the goodness of my 
conscience up, my trade can lack no custom, my 
wares can want no price, my words can need no 
credit, my actions can lack no praise. If I be co- 
vetous, it is interpreted providence; if miserable, it 
is counted temperance; if melancholy, it is construed 
godly sorrow; if merry, it is voted spiritual joy; if 
I be rich, tis thought the blessing of a godly life; if 
poor, supposed the fruit of conscionable dealing; if 
1 be well spoken of, it is the merit of holy conversa- 
tion ; if ill, it is the malice of malignants. Thus I 
sail with every wind, and have my end in all con- 
ditions. This cloak in summer keeps me cool, in 
winter warm, and hides my na&ty bag of all my se- 



BOANERGES AND 1JAUNABAS. 



His Woe — His 1'routs. 



cret lusts. Under this cloak I walk in public fairly 
with applause, and in private sin securely without 
offence, and officiate wisely without discovery. I 
compass sea and land to make a proselyte; and no 
sooner made, but he makes me. At a fast I cry Ge- 
neva, and at a feast I cry Rome. If I be poor, I 
counterfeit abundance to save my credit; if rich, 1 
dissemble poverty to sa\c charges. I most frequent 
scliisrnatical lectures* which I find most profitable, 
from whence learning to divulge and maintain new 
doctrines, they maintain me in suppers thrice a week, 
the help of a lie sometimes, as a religious stra- 
ti to uphold the gospel; and I colour oppres- 
sion with God's judgments executed upon the 
wicked. Charity I hold an extraordinary duty, 
therefore not ordinarily to be performed. What 
I openly reprove abroad, for my own profit, that 
retlv act at home, for my own pleasure. 

His (roc. 
But stay, I see a hand writing in my heart damps 
my goal: it is characterized in these sad words. 
mattii. wiii. 13. 
W oe be to you, hypocrit< s 

Hit proofs. 

joh xx, 5. 

' The triumphing of the wicked i 8 short, foe joj 
of a hypocrite U but tor a moment/ 1 



40 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Proofs. 

job xv. 34. 
" The congregation of the hypocrites shall be 
desolate." 

prov. xi. 9. 
" An hypocrite with his month deslroyeth his 
neighbour; but through knowledge shall the just 
be delivered. " 

lure xii. 1. 
" Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is 
hypocrisy." 

job xxxv i. 13. 14. 
" The hypocrites in heart heap up wrath : They 
die in their youth, and their life is amongst the un- 
clean." 



SALV1AN DE GUBERN. DEI. 1. 4. 

" The hypocrites love not those things they pro- 
fess, and what they pretend in words they disclaim 
in practice: their sin is the more damnable because 
ushered in with pretence of piety, having the greater 
guilt because it obtains a godly repute." 

HIERON EP. 

" Endeavour rather to be, than to be thought 
holy ; for what profits it to thee to be thought to be 
what thou art not ? and that man doubles his guilt 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 41 

His Soliloquy. 

who is not so holy as the world thinks him, and 
counterfeits that holiness which he hath not.' 

His soliloquy. 
How like a lining sepulchre did I appear; with- 
out, beautified with gold and rich invention ; within, 
nothing but a loathed corruption ? So long as this 
epulchre was closed, it passed for a curious 
monument of the builder's art; but being opened by 
these spiritual keys, it is nothing but a receptacle 
of offensive putrefaction. In what a nasty dungeon 
ha^t thou, my soul, so long remained unstifled ? — 
How wert thou wedded to thy own corruptions, 
that couldest endure thy unsavory nlthiness ? The 
world hated me, because I seemed good; God 
hated me, because I only seemed good. I had no 
friend but myself, and this friend was my bosom 
enemy. < ) my soul, is there water enough in Jordan 
to cleanse thee? Hath <;i!ead balm enough to heal 
thy superannuated 1 have sinned: I am 

convinced, I am convicted. God's mercy is above 
dimensions, when sinners have not sinned beyond 
repentance. Art thou, my soul, truly penitent for 
ill) sin! Thou hast free interest in Ins mercy. — 
Fall then, my soul, before bis mercy-seat, and be 
wajl cfowIi thy penitence with his pare 1 



42 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

His prayer, 
O God, before the brightness of whose all-dis- 
cerning eye the secrets of my heart appear, before 
whose clear omniscience the very entrails of my soul 
lie open, who art a God of righteousness and 
truth, and lovest uprightness in the inward parts ; 
how can I chuse but fear to thrust into thy glorious 
presence, or move my sinful lips to call upon that 
name which I so often have dishonoured, and made 
a cloak to hide the baseness of my close transgres- 
sions? Lord, when I look into the progress of my 
filthy life, my guilty conscience calls me to so 
strict account, and reflects me to so large an inven- 
tory of my presumptuous sins, that I commit a 
greater sin in thinking them more infinite than thy 
mercy. But, Lord, thy mercies have no date, nor 
is thy goodness circumscribed. The gates of thy 
compassion are always open to a broken heart, and 
promise entertainment to a contrite spirit. The bur- 
then of my sins is grievous, and the remembrance of 
my hypocrisy is intolerable. I have sinned against 
thy Majesty, with a high hand, but I repent me 
from the bottom of an humble heart ; as thou hast 
therefore given me sorrow for my sins, so crown that 
gift in the freeness of remission. Be fully reconciled 
to me through the all-sufficient merits of thy Son my 
Saviour, and seal in my afflicted heart the full as- 
surance of thv crracious favour. Be thou exalted, 



BOANERGES AND CA 43 






O God above the heavens, and let me pri 
with a single b< 

!, and purify the closet of my polluted soul. 
Fix thou i: . O thou searcher of all secrets, 

and k wholly to thee. Remove 

from me all bye and ts, that I may serve 

. ith an ii ; rit. Take not the word of 

truth out of ii!\ mouth, nor 

Jul lips. Give nit: an inward reverence of thy Ma- 
that J might openly confess thee in the truth 
of m\ Be thou the only object and end 

of all my actions, and let thy honour be my great 
rd. Let not the hopes of filthy lucre, or the 
men, incline me tp thee; neither let the 
pfcoasun of the world, nor the fears of any loss entice 
i:ic from thee. Keep me from those judgments my 
rved, and strengthen my resolu- 
tion to abhor mj former life. Qive me strength, O 
thee with a perfect heart in thi 
>i lit'. . that I may be del ivered from the old 
.md tin Lh. Then shall 1 praise 

tin <• with my entire affections, and glorify th\ name 
for ever and ever, 

ANONYM. 

man, can- 
uot 1 1 1 them that can 

z z 



44 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The ignorant Man's faultering. 

only observe, but fears not the eye of God, who will 
certainly punish." 

The ignorant mans faultering. 
You tell me, and you tell me, that T must be a 
good man, and serve God, and do his wil! ; and so I 
do, for aught I know. I am sure I am as good as 
God has made me, &nd I can make myself no better, 
so I cannot. And as for serving God, 1 am sure I 
go to Church as well as the best in the parish, 
though I be not so fine. And I make no question, 
if I had better clothes, but I should do God as 
much credit as another man, though I say it. And 
as for doing God's will, I beshrew me, I leave that 
to them that are book-learned, and can do it more 
wisely. I believe the vicar of our parish can do it, 
and has done it too, as well as any within five miles 
of his head : and what need I trouble myself to do 
what is so well done already? I hope he being so 
good a church-man, and so great a scholar, and can 
speak Latin too, would not leave that to so simple 
a man as I. It is enough for me to know that God 
is a good man ; and that the ten commandments are 
the best prayers in all the book, unless it be the 
creed ; and that I must love my neighbour as well as he 
loves me : and for all other quilicomes, they shall ne- 
ver trouble my brains, by the grace of God. Let me go 
on Sundays and serve God, obey the king (God bless 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 45 

His Avowal. 

do no man any wrong, say the Lord's prayer 
every raorniug and evening-, follow ray work, give a 
noble to the poor at my death, and then say, Lord 
have mercy upon me, and go away like a lamb, I 
make no question but I shall deserve heaven as well 
I as he that wears a gayer coat. But yet I am not so 
ignorant neither, nor have not gone so often to 
Church, but I know Christ died for me too, as well 
as for any other man, I would be sorry else; and 
that next to our vicar, I shail go to heaven when I 
am dead as soon as another: nay more, I know there 
be two sacraments, bread and wine, and but two, 
(though the papists say there be six or seven) and 
that I verily believe 1 shall be saved by those sacra- 
ments; and that I love God above all, or else it were 
pity of life; and that when I am dead and rotten (as 
our vicar told me) 1 shall rise again and be the same 
man at I was. But for that he must excuse me, till 
I hu\«- better satisfaction; for all his learning, he 
cannot make me such a fool, unless lie shew me a 
belter reason for it than yet he has done. 

Hi* avowal. 
But one thing he told me, now 1 think on it, 
troubles me woundily, namely, that Cod is my 
master, all which I confess; and that I must do his 
will, (whether I know how to <Io it or not) or elte 
it will go ill with me. I will read it (he said) out 



64 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Proof 



of God's bible; 'and I sball remember the words so 
long as I have a day to lire, which are these, 
lure xii. 48. 
" He that knoweth not his masters will, and doth 
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few 
stripes." 

His jwoofs. 
1 con. xiv, 20. 
" Brethren, be not children in understanding: 
howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understand- 
ing be men.'' 

1 cor. xv. 34. 
" Awake to righteousness and sin not; for some 
have' not the knowledge of God: I speak it to 
your shame." 

EPiiES. iv. 18. 
" Walk not in the vanity of your minds, having 
the understanding darkened, being alienated from 
the life of God, through the ignorance which is in 
you, because of the blindness of your hearts." 
levit. v. 17. 
" And if a soul sin and commit any of these 
things which are forbidden to be done by the com- 
mandments of the Lord, though he wist it not, yet 
he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity." 



LOAM SD BARNABAS. 47 



iloquy, 



GREG. MAG. MORAL. 

" It is good to know much, and to live well : but 

mot attain both, it is better to desire piety 

than \ for knowledge makes no man happy, 

doth l>h- consist in intellectuals. The 

only brave thing is a religions life.'' 

JUST. MART. RESP. AD ORTIIOD. 

" To sin against knowledge is so much the greater 
e than an ignorant trespass, by how much the 
crime which is capable of no excuse is more heinous 
than the fault which admits a tolerable plea." 

His soliloquy. 

How well it had been for thee, O my soul, if I had 

book-learned ! Alas ! I cannot read, and what 

r I cannot understand; I cannot profit as J 

Rhould, and therefore cannot be as good as I would, 

hich I am right sorry. That I cannot serve 

i II as in. hath been often a 

to me; and that I have been so ignorant in 
good things, bath I at heart-breaking to ne 

i want of knowledge to read, 
'iir Father and the ( Ireed : But the comfort is, 
God knows nix heart. But 1 trust in (iod our Fa- 
ther, neing made by Christ himself, will be enough 
for me thai know not how to make a better. 1 endea- 
vour to do all our vicar bids me; and when I n 



48 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



ceive the communion I truly forgive all the world for 
a fortnight after, or such a matter: but then some 
old injury makes me forget myself; but I cannot 
help it, and my life should lie on it. O my ingrate 
soul, what shall I do to be saved? All that I can 
say is, Lord have mercy upon me; and all that I 
can do is, but to do my good will ; and that I will 
do with all my heart, and say my prayers too as 
well as God will give me leave, by the grace of Goo!. 

His prayer. 
O God the Father of Heaven, have mercy upon 
me miserable sinner. I am, as I must needs confess, 
a sinful man, as my forefathers were before me. I 
have heard many sermons, and have had many good 
lessons from the mouths of painful ministers; but 
through the dulness of my understanding, and for 
want of learning, I have not profited so much as 
else I should have done : spare me therefore, O God, 
spare me whom thou hast redeemed with thy preci- 
ous blood, and be not angry for ever. I must con- 
fess, the painfulness of my calling, and the heaviness 
of my own nature, hath taken from me the delight 
of hearing thy word ; and the ignorance of learning, 
which I was never brought up to, hath kept me 
from reading it; insomuch that instead of growing 
better, I fear I have grown worse and worse, and 
have been so far from doing thy will, that I do not 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 43 



The ignorant Man's t'aultmng. 



understand what thy will is very well. But thou. 

merciful God, that didst reveal thyself to poor 
shepherds and poor fishermen, that had no more 
learning than I, have mercy upon me for Jesus Christ 

ike. Thou that hast promised to instruct the 
simple, and to lead the ignorant into thy way, be 
good and merciful tome, I beseech thee. Thou that 
drav. . i dj out of the dust, and the poor out 

of the dunghill, give me the knowledge of thy will, 
and teach me how to serve thee. Rouse up the 
drowsiness of my heart; open mine eyes that I may 
seethe truth, and mine ears that I may understand 
thy word ; and strengthen my memory that I may 
lay it up in my heart, and shew it in my life and vo- 
cation, to thy glory and my comfort, and the comfort 
of my friends. Lord, write thy will in my heart, that 

i I know it, I may do it willingly. O teach me. 
what thy pleasure is, that I may do my best to per- 
form it. Give me faith to lay hold on Jesus Christ, 

died lor me ; that after I am dead 1 may rite 
again and live with him. dive me a good In art, that 

1 may deal honestly with all men, and doai 1 would 
be done to. 1 tHing, and prosper 
the labour of my hands, thai I ma) hajfe enough to 

ad clothe- me, and to ui\.- to the pO< 
I all that is aim<s in me, and expect from me 

according to the measure thou hast given me. For- 
me all my sins, and make me willing to j 



50 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The slothful Man's slumber. 

thee; that living- a good life, I may make a gracious 
death, and so at last I may come to heaven and 
live for ever, for Jesus Christ's sake, Amen. 

ANONYM. 

" That only is the best knowledge that makes us 
better." 

ANONYM. 

" Ignorance will not excuse sin, when itself is a 
sin" 

The slothful mails slumber. 
O what a world of curses the eating of the for- 
bidden fruit hath brought upon mankind, and una- 
voidably entailed upon the sons of men! Among 
all which, no one appears to me more terrible and 
full of sorrow, and bewraying greater wrath, than 
that insufferable, that horrible punishment of 
labour, and to purchase bread with so extreme a 
price as sweat. But, O what happiness have they, 
whose dying parents have procured a quiet fortune 
for their unmolested children, and conveyed de- 
scended rents to their succeeding heirs, whose easy 
and contented lives may sit and suck the sweetness 
of their cumberless estates, and with their folded 
hands enjoy the delicacies of this toilsome world ! — 
How blessed, how delicious are those easy morsels.. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 51 



His Proofs. 



that can find the way to my soft palate, and then at- 
tend upon the wanton leisure of silken slumbers, 
without the painful practice of my bosom-folded 
hands, or sad eontr^vement of my studious and con- 
tracted brows! Why should I tire my tender youth, 
and torture out my groaning days in toil and travel, 
and discompose tin- happy peace of my harmonious 
fhtfi with painful grinding in the common mill 
of dull mortality? Why should I rob my orating 
eye-lids of their delightful rest, to cark and care, and 
purvey for that bread which every work-abhorring 
vagabond can find of alms at every good man's door? 
\\ hv should I leave the warm protection of my care- 
pegniling down, to play the drolling drudge for 
daily food, when the young empt\ ravens (that have 
no hands t<» work, nor providence but heaven), can 
call and he supplied ? The pale-faced lily and the 
Minding rose neither spin nor sow, vet princelv 
Solomon Was Dew robed with so much glory; and 
shall I then afflict my body and enslave my heaven- 
born soul, to purchase rags to clothe my nakedness? 
I- my condition worse than sheep ordained for 
slaughter, that crop the springing grass, clothed 
warm in sofl raiment, purcjiascd without their provi- 
dence or pains- Or shall the pampered beast, that 

shines with fatnest and grows wanton through his 

careful groom's indulgence, mid better measure- at 

orUV* fort partial hands than I : ' < to e, come. 

1 i 



BOANERGES AMJ BARNABAS. 



His Doom — His Proofs. 



let those take pains that love to leave their names 
enrolled in memorable monuments of parchment. — 
The day has grief enough without my help; and 
let to-morrow's shoulders bear to-morrow's bur- 
then. 

His doom. 
But stay, my S3ul, O stay thy rash resolves: take 
heed whilst thou avoidest the punishment of sin, la- 
bour, thou meet not the reward of idleness, a 
judgment. 

prov. xix. 5. 
" The idle soul shall suffer hunger." 

His proofs. 

ECCLES. X. 18. 

" By much slothfulness the building decayeth ; 
and through idleness of the hands the house drop- 
peth through." 

ezck. xvi. 49. 

" Behold this woe, the iniquity of thy sister 
Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of 
idleness was in her, and in her daughters, nei- 
ther did she strengthen the hand of the poor and 
needy." 

prov. vi. 6, 7, 8. 

" Go to the pismire, O sluggard, behold her ways 
and be wise. For she having no guide, governor, 



BOANERGES \ND BARNABAS. 53 



Hi> Soliloquy. 



nor ruler, prepareth her meat in summer, and ga- 
thereth her food in harvest." 



SILLS IN I'ARN.iNKS, 

" Idtenest ia the womb or fountain of all wicked* 

, for it Consumes and wastes the riches and vir- 
toet which we have already, and disenables us to 

ir«t tho>e we have not. 

IBID. 

" Woe l>e to the idle soul, for he shall hunger 
after that which his riot consumed." 

His soliloquy. 
How presumptuously hast thou, my soul, trans- 
express commandment of thy God ! 
Now \wv<\ thou dashed thyself against bis judgments! 
H»>u bath thy undeserving hand usurped the diet, 
and wearest on thy back the wages of the painful 
sdttl ! Art thou not condemned to rags, to famine, 
by bin whose law commanded thee to labour? And 
yet thou pamperesl up thy sides with stolen food, and 
yel lliou deckest thy wanton body with unearned or- 
naments ; while they that spend their daily Strength in 

their commanded callings (whose labour gives them 

interest in them) want bread to feed, and rag- to 

clothe them. Thou art no young raven, my soul, 

3 a 2 



o4 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



do lily. Where ability to labour is, there providence 
meets action, and crowns it. He that forbids to 
cark for to-morrow, denies bread to the idleness of 
to-day. Consider, O my soul, thy own delinquency, 
and let employment make thee capable of thy God's 
protection. The bird that sits is a fair mark for the 
fowler, while they that use the wing escape the dan- 
ger. Follow thy calling, and heaven will follow 
thee with his blessing. What thou hast formerly 
omitted, present repentance may redeem; and what 
judgments God hath threatened, early petitions may 
avert. 

His prayer. 
Most great and most glorious God, who for the 
sin of our first parents hast condemned our frail 
bodies to the punishment of labour, and hast com- 
manded every one a calling and a trade of life, that 
hatest idleness as the root of evil, and threatenest 
poverty to the slothful hand ; I thy poor suppliant, 
convicted by thy judgments, and conscious of my 
own transgression, fly from myself to thee, and hum- 
bly appeal from the high tribunal of thy justice, and 
seek for refuge in the sanctuary of thy mercy. — 
Lord, I have led a life displeasing to thee, and have 
been a scandal to my profession ; have slighted those 
blessings which thy goodness hath promised to a 
conscionahle callins;, and have swallowed down the 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 






bread of idleness. I have impaired the talent thou 
t me, and have lost the opportunity of doing 
much good. I have filled my heart with idle ima- 
ginations, and have laid myself open to the lusts of 
the flesh. I have abused thy favours in the mis-ex- 
pending of my precious time, and have taken no de- 
light in thy sabbaths. I have doted too much on 
the pleasures of this world, and like a drone have 
fed upon the honey of bees. If thou, O God, 
shouliiest be extreme to search my ways with too 
severe an eye, thou couldest not chuse but whet thy 
indignation, and pour the vials of thy wrath upon 
me. Look therefore not upon my sins, O Lord ; 
but through the merits of my Saviour, who hath 
made a full satisfaction for all my sins. What 
through ray weakness I have failed to do, the fili- 
al his sufferings hath most exactly done. In 
hiui, God, in whom thou art well pleased, and for 
Ins sake, be gracious to my sin. Alter my heart 
and make it willing to please thee, that in my life I 
may adorn my profession. Gl?e me a care and a 
ience in my calling, and grant thy blessing to 
th. lawful labours of ray hand. Let the fidelity of 
my vocation improve my talent, that I may enter 
into m\ i joy. Rouse up the dulness and 

deadness of my heart, and quench those Main 
lust within me. Assist me, O God, in the redemp- 
tion of my tune, and deliver mv soul from the evil- 



ft BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The proud Man's Ostentation. 



ness-of my days. Let thy providence accompany 
my moderate endeavours, and let all my employ- 
ments depend upon thy providence; that when the 
labours of this sinful world shall cease, I may feel 
and enjoy' the benefit of a good conscience, and ob- 
tain the rest of the new Jerusalem in the eternity of 
glory. 

ANONYM. 

" He that is idle, is ready for Satan to set on 
work." 

r Vhe proud mans ostentation. 
I will make him feel the weight of my displeasure, 
and teach him to repent his saucy boldness. How 
dares his baseness once presume to breathe so near 
my person, much more to take my name into his 
dunghill mouth ? Methinks the lustre of my spark- 
ling eye might have had the power to astonish him 
into good manners, and sent him back to cast his 
mind into a fair petition, humbly presented with his 
trembling hand. But thus to press into my pre- 
sence, to press so near my face, and then to speak, 
and speak to me, as if I were his equal, is more than 
sufferable. The way to be contemned is to digest 
contempt; but he that would be honoured by the 
vulgar sort must wisely keep a distance. A coun- 
tenance that's reserved breeds fear and observation: 
but affability and too easy an access makes fools too 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. hi 



The proud Man's Ostentation. 



bold, and reputation cheap. What price I set upon ray 
own deserts, instructs opinion how to prize me. — 
That which base ignorance miscalls thy pride, is but 
a conscious knowledge of my merits. Dejected 
souls, cravened with their own distrusts, are. the 
world's foot-halls, to be kicked and spurned; but 
hra\c and true heroic spirits, that know the strength 
of their own worth, shall baffle baseness and pre- 
sumption into a reverential silence, and spite of 
envy flourish in an honourable repose. Come then, 
my soul advance thy noble, and sublimer thoughts, 
and prize thyself according to those parts, which all 
ina\ wonder at, lew imitate, but none can equal. — 
Let !i<-t the insolent affronts of vassals interrupt thy 

. nor seem one scruple less than what thou 

art. He thou thyself, respect thyself, receive thou 

>ur from thyself; rejoice thyself in thyself, and 

prize thyself for thyself. Like Caesar, admit no 

equal ; and like Poiopey acknowledge no superior. 

vetous of thine own honour, and hold another's 
gJory as thy injury. Renounce humility as an 

-\ in reputation, and weakness as the worse 
t' a true-bred noble spirit. Disparagi 
worth in all hut in thyself, and make another's 
infaui) a foil to magnify thy plory. Let such as 
have no reason to, be proud, be humbjed of neces- 
sity ; ami lei them that have no part* to. value, be lies- 

I 



58 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Desolation — His Proofs. 

having skill enough to play thy hopeful game, vie 
boldly, conquer, and triumph. 

His desolation. 

But stay, my soul, the trump is yet unturned : 
boast not too soon, nor call it a fair day till night: 
the turning of a hand may make such alterations in 
thy flattering fortunes, that all thy glorious expecta- 
tions may chance to end in loss and unsuspected 
ruin. That God which thrust that Babylonian 
Prince from his imperial throne, to graze with beasts, 
hath said, 

prov. 16. 25. 

" The Lord will destroy the house of the proud." 

His proofs. 
prov. xi. 2. 
"When pride cometh then cometh shame; but 
with the lowly is wisdom." 

jer. xiii. 15. 
*' Hear ye, and give ear, and be not proud ; for the 
I^rd hath spoken." 

isaiah ii. 12. 
" The day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon 
every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every 
one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low/' 
prov. xvi. 5. 
" Every one that is proud in heart is abomination 
to the Lord." 



BOANEIU-ES AND BARSA&VS. 59 



iloquy. 



JAMES IV. 6. 

" God rejecteth the proud, and givetli grace to tin; 
humble. 



ISIDOR, HISPAL. 
" Pride mad.- Satan Tail from the bigl '' n. 

fore they that pride themselves in their virtues, 
imitate the devil; and fall more dangerously, he- 
cause they aspire and climb to the highest pitch, 
from whence is the greatest fall. 

GREG. MOR. 

" Pride grows stronger in the riot, whilst it 
- itself with presumptuous advances, yet the 
higher it climbs the lower it falls; far he that 
ens himself by his own pride is always de- 
stroyed by the judgment of God." 

His soliloquy. 
II. ,w wert thou muffled, my soul! How wer< 
thine eyes Minded with the corruption of thine 
nun heart! When 1 beheld myself by m\ 

I seemed a glorious thing ; my sun |uiew no 
nd all my imperfections were gilded over 

with vaju glory ; but now the day -spring from above 
bath ipon my heart, and the diviner light 

hath drivi ■ those foggy mists, 1 find mysell 

:\ b 



60 BOANERGES AMD BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

another thing; my diamonds are all turned peb- 
bles, and my glory is turned to shame. O 
my deceived soul, how great a darkness was thy 
light! The thing that seemed so glorious and 
sparkled in the night, by day appears but rotten 
wood ; and that bright glow-worm, that in dark- 
ness out-shined the chrysolite, is by this new-found 
light no better than a crawling worm. How insepa- 
rable, O my soul, is pride and folly ! which like 
H\ pocrates' twins still live and die together. It 
blinds the eye, befools the judgment, knows no su- 
periors, hates equals, disdains inferiors; is the wise 
man's scorn, and the fool's idol. Renounce it, O 
my soul, lesMhy God renounce thee. He that hath 
threatened to resist the proud, hath promised to give 
grace to the humble: and what true repentance 
speaks, free mercy hears and crowns. 

His prayer. 
O God the fountain of all true glory, and the 
giver of all free grace, whose name is only honour- 
able and whose works are only glorious, that she west 
thy ways to the meek, and takest compassion upon 
an humble spirit, that hatest the presence of a lofty 
eye, and destroyest the proud in the imaginations of 
their hearts ; vouchsafe, O Lord, thy gracious ear, 
and hear the sighing of a contrite heart. I know, O 
God the quality of my sin can look for nothing but 
the extremity of thy wrath; I know the crookedness 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 61 



His Prayer. 



of my condition can expect nothing but the furnace 
of thy indignation. I know the insolence of my 
corrupted nature can hope for nothing but the exe- 
cution of thy judgments. Yet, Lord, I know withal 
thou ;tr; a gracious God* of evil repenting thee, and 
slo* to wrath. I know thv nature and property is 
ompassion, apt to conceive, hut readier to 
forgive. I know thou takest do pleasure in the de- 
struction of a sinner, l»ut rather that he should re- 
peal and live: In confidence and full assurance 
whereof 1 am here prostrate on my bended knees, 
and with an bumble heart. Nor do I press into thv 
holy presence, trusting in my own merits, lest thou 
shouldest deal with me as I have dealt by others; 
Imt being encouraged by thy gracious invitation, and 
v laden with the burthen of my sins, I come to 
<> God, who art the refuge of a wounded soul, 
and the sanctuary of a broken spirit. Forgivr, O 
God, forgive DM what is past recalling, and make 
me circomspeel for the time to come. Open mine 
eyes that 1 uiav see how vain a thing I am, and how 
poll O ted from 1 1 1 v very birth. Give me an insight of 
my own corruptions, that I may truly know and 
lo.iih myself. Take from me all vain-glory and self- 
rod make me careless of the world's applause. 

Bodue me with an humble heart, and take this 

rity spirit from me. Grre mo a true discovery 
mI'imv own merits, th.it I maj trujj fear and tremble 
9 I 9 



62 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The covetous Man's care. f 

at thy judgments. Let not the world's contempt de- 
ject me, nor the disrespects of man dismay me. — 
Take from me, O God, a scornful eye, and curb my 
tongue that speaks presumptuous things. Plant in 
my heart a brotherly love, and cherish in me a cha- 
ritable affection. Possess my soul with patience, O 
God, and establish my heart in the fear of thy name ; 
that being humbled before thee in the meekness of 
my spirit, I maybe exalted by thee through the free- 
ness of thy grace, and crowned with thee in the 
kingdom of glory. 

ANONYM. 

li Pride is its own punishment, for nothing makes 
men more contemptible in the eyes of others. 

* The covetous man's care. 
Believe me, the times are hard and dangerous; 
charity is grown cold, and friends uncomfortable; 
an empty purse is full of sorrow, and hollow bags 
make a heavy heart. Poverty is a civil pestilence, 
which frights away both friends and kindred, and 
leaves us to a — Lord have mercy upon us. It is a 
sickness very catching and infectious, and more 
commonly abhorred than cured. The best antidote 
against it is Angelica and Providence, and the best 
cordial is Auruin potabiie. Gold taken fasting is an 
approvel sovereign. Debts are ill humours, and 
!m;m at last to dangerous obstructions. Lending is 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. «a 



'.ous Man's care. 



a mere consumption of the radical humoifr, which 
if consumed, brings a patient to nothing. Let 
others trust to courtiers' promises, to friends' per- 
formances, to princes' favours; give me a toy called 
gold, give me a thing called money. O blessed 
Mammon, how extreme Iv sweet is thy all-command 
iag presence to my thriving; soul! In banishment 
thou art my dear companion : \\i captivity thou art 
m\ precious ransom : [o trouble and vexation thou 
art my dainty real : In sickness thou art my health : 
In grief my only joy: In all extremity my only 
trust. Virtue must always veil to thee; say, grace 
itself not relished with thy sweetness would even 
displease the right men. Come then, 

m\ ionl, advise, contrive, project; go, compass sea 
and land ; leave no exploit untried, no path untroo, 
no lime unspent; afford thine eyes no sleep, thy 
bead no rest; neglect th\ nuenous belly, unclothe 
thy hack; deceive, betray, sweat and forswear to 
( -ompass BOCA a friend. If thou be base in birth it 
will make thee honourable ; if weak in power, il 
will make thee formidable. Are thy friends few? 

it will make them numerous, is th\ < ause bad ? 

it will gain thee advocates. True, wisdom is an 

Ileal help, iii case il bend this w;i\ ; and learn- 

I ornament, if not too chargeable; \»t 

by your leave, they are bnl estates for term of life: 

but everl Id, il well-advantaged, will not 

7 



64 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Curse— His Proofs. 

only bless thy days, but thy surviving children from 
generation to generation. Come, come, let others 
fill their brains with dear-bought wit, turn their 
pence into expenseful charity, and store their bo- 
soms with unprofitable piety ; let them lose all to 
save their imaginary consciences, and beggar them- 
selves at home to be thought honest abroad : fill 
thou thy bags and barns, and lay up for in any years, 
dud take thy rest. 

His Curse. 
But, O my soul, what follows wounds my heart 
and strikes me on my knees. 

luke xii. 20. 
" Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required 
of thee." 

His proofs. 

MATTH. vi. 24. 

" Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." 

job xx. 15. 
" He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall 
vomit them up again : God shall cast them out of 
his belly." 

prov. xv. 27. 
" He that is greedy of gain troubles his own 
house; but he that hateth gifts shall live." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 65 



His Soliloquy. 



2 peter, ii. 3. 
Through covetousness they shall with feigned 
words make merchandize of you, whose judgment 
now of a long time lingereth not, and whose damna- 



tion slnmbereth not.'" 



MLUS IN PARNiCNES. 

•' Woe to the covetous for his riches forsake him, 
and hell fire takes him." 

S. AUGUST. 

" O thou covetous man, why dost thou treasure 
up such hidden mischief? Why dost thou dote 
on the image of the king stamped ou coin, and 
hates! the image of God that shines in men !" 

IDEM. 

V The ri( Ins which thou treasurcst up are lost; 
I lion charitably bestowest are truly thine." 

His soliUxjiiif. 

What thtnkest thou dow, my soul? If the judg- 
ment of hol\ nun may not inform thee, lit tlu-judg- 
DMdtfl tf thy angry God enforce thee. WejgD thy 

own carnal infections with tin- sacred oracles of 
beaten, and light and darkness are not more con- 
trary. What thou apprOf est, th> God condemns: 

what thou desires! ih> God forbids. Now, m\ 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



soul, if Mammon be God, follow him ; if God be 
God, adhere to him : Thou canst not serve God and 
Mammon. If thy conscience feel the hook, nibble 
no longer. Many sins leave thee in the way, this 
follows thee to thy life's end ; the root of evil, the 
canker of all goodness. It blinds justice, poisons 
charity, strangles conscience, beslaves the affections, 
betrays friendship, breaks all relations. It is a root 
of the devil's own planting; pluck it up. Think 
not that a pleasure which God hath threatened ; nor 
that a blessing which heaven hath cursed. Devour 
not that which thou or thy heir must vomit up. Be 
no longer possessed with such a devil, but cast him 
out; and if he be too strong, weaken him by fasting, 
and exercise him by prayer. 

His prayer. 
O God, that art the fulness of all riches and ma- 
gazine of all treasure, in the enjoyment of whose fa- 
vour the smallest morsel is a rich inheritance, and 
the coursest pulse is a large portion; without whose 
blessing the greatest plenty enriches not, and the 
highest diet nourishes not; how have I (an earth- 
worm, and no man) fixed my whole heart upon this 
transitory world, and neglected thee the only desir- 
able good ! I blush, O Lord, to confess the base- 
ness of my life, and am utterly ashamed of mine 
own foolishness. I have placed my affections upon 



BO\NEIM.I> AND BARNABAS. o'7 



HN Prayer. 



the nasty rubbish of this world, and have slighted 
the inestimable pearl of my salvation. I have wal- 
lowed in the mire of my inordinate desires, and re- 
fused to be washed in the streams of thy compassion. 
I have put my confidence in the faithfulness of my 
servant, and have doubted the providence of thee 
gracious Father. I have served unrighteous 
Mammon with greediness, and have preferred dross 
and dung before the pearly gates of New Jerusalem 
Thou hast promised to be all in all to those that 
tear thee, and not to fail the soul that trusts in thee ; 
but I refused tit v gracious oiler, and put my confi- 
dence in the vanity of the creature. But, gracious 
to whom repentance never comes unseason- 
able, that findest an ear when sinners find a tongue, 
il the contrition of a bleeding heart, and with- 
draw not th\ mercy from a pensive soul. Give me 
in n thoughts. <> God, and with thy holy spirit new 
mould m\ desires. Inform my will, and sanctify 
mv affections, that the) may relish thy sweetness 
with a lull delight. < 'rente in me, < > God, a spiritual 
, that I may take pleasure in things that arc 
above. Give me a contented thankfulness for what 
I have, that 1 may neither in poverty forsake thee, 
nor in pleat) forget thee. Arm me with continual 
thai I ma\ cheerfully put my trust in thy 
(Moderate m\ care for momentary 
tluims, that I may use the world as if I used it not 
No. 13. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The Self-Lover's Self-Friend. 



Let not the loss of an earthly good too much deject 
me, lest I should sin with my lips and charge thee 
foolishly. Give me a charitable hand, O God, and 
fill my heart with brotherly compassion, that I 
may cheerfully exchange the corruptible treasure of 
this world into the incorruptible riches of the world 
to come; and proving a faithful steward in thy spi- 
ritual household, I may give up my account with 
joy, and be made partaker of thy eternal joy in the 
kingdom of thy glory. 

s. CHRYSOST. 

" The vessel of our desires grows greater under 
our endeavours to fill it. 

" We brought nothing into the world, and we 
shall carry nothing out with us." 

Tlie self-lover's self-fraud. 
God hath required ray heart, and he shall have it; 
God hath commanded truth in the inward parts, and 
he shall be obeyed. My soul shall praise the Lord 
and all that is within me, and I will serve him in 
the strength of my desires. And in common cases 
the tongue's profession of his name is no less than 
necessary : But when it lies upon a life, upon the 
saving of a livelihood, upon the flat undoing of a 
reputation, the case is altered. — My life is dear, my 
fair possessions precious, and my reputation is the 
the very apple of my eye. To save so great a stake 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The Self-Lover's Self-Friend. 



methinks equivocation is but venial, if a sin. If the 
true loyalty of my heart stands sound to my religion 
and my God, my well-informed conscience tells me 
that in such extremities my frighted tongue may 
lake the privilege of a salvo, or a mental reservation, 
if not in the expression of a fair compliance. What ! 
shall the real breach of a holy Sabbath, dedicated 
to ( "»d's highest glory, be tolerated for the welfare 
of an ox ? May that breach be set upon the score 
of mercy, and commended above sacrifice, for the 
safe-guard of an ass ? And may ] not dispense with 
a bare lip-denial of my urged religion for the neces- 
sary preservation of the threatened life of a man ? 
far the saving of the whole livelihood and subsistence 
of a Christian ? What ! shall I perish for want of 
food, and die a martyr to that foolish conscience 
which forbids me to rub the ears of a little standing 
corn ? Jacob could purchase his sick father's bles- 
uitli i downright lie, and may I not dissemble 
for a life ? The young man's great possessions tMght 
his thnoruos tongue to shrink from and decline his 
heart's profession, and w ho could blame him? Come, 
if thou I: . < I \ u r ive thy boute, OQflft thou in conscience 
be denied a hiding-room for thy protection? The 
Syrian Captain (he whose heart was fixed on his 

-fimwesolfed -uu\ true devotion rewired the 
borne of Uiiuinon for h try attendance, and 

\et went in peace. Peter (Upon the rock of whose 

a c 2 



70 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Retribution — His Proofs. 



confession, the church was grounded) to save his li- 
berty, with a false, nay a perjured tongue ; nay more, 
at such a time when as the Lord of life (in whose 
behalf he drew his sword) was questioned for his in- 
nocent life, denied his master: and shall I be so 
great an u n thrift of my blood, my life, to lose it 
for a mere lip-denial of that religion which now is 
settled, and needs no blood to seal it? 

His retribution. 
But stay, my conscience checks me, there is a 
judgment thunders: Hark. 

matth. x. 33. 
" He that denies me before men, him will I deny 
before my father which is in heaven." 

His proofs. 
2 tim. iii. 1. 2. 
" Know that in the latter days, perilous times 
shall come: For men shall be lovers of their own 
selves." 

ISAIAH xlv. 23. 
" I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of 
my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, 
that unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue 
shall swear." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy. 



ROM. X. 10. 

11 With the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
ness, and with the mouth confession is made to 
salvation. ' 

like i\. 'It). 

11 Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my 
words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed when 
he shall come in glory." 



AUGUST. 

*' The love of God and the world are two different 
things. If the love of this world dwell in thee, the 
love of God forsakes thee ; renounce that, and re- 
ceive this: It is fit the more noble love should 
the best place and acceptance." 

THEOP. 

" It is not enough only to believe with the heart, for 
God will iia\<' us ( iooCbm v>itl> our mouth : everyone 

that confesses that Christ is God, shall find 
Christ professing to the Father, that man is a 
faithful servant; but those that deny Christ shall 
.<• that fearful doom, (Nescio v<» 1 know 
you DOt 

H$S soliloquy. 
My soul, in such a tine as this, when the civil 



72 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

sword is warm with slaughter, and the wasting king- 
dom welters in her blood, wouldest thou not give 
thy life to ransom her from ruin ? Is not the God 
of heaven and earth worth many kingdoms ? Is thy 
welfare more considerable than his glory? Darest 
thou deny him for thy own ends, that denied thee 
nothing for thy good ? Is a poor clod of earth we 
call inheritance prizeable with his greatness, or a 
puff of breath we call life valuable with his honour, 
in comparison of whom the very angels are impure? 
Blush, O my soul, at thy own guilt. He that ac- 
counteth his blood, his life not worth the keeping, to 
ransom thee a wretch, lost by thy own rebellion, de- 
serves he not the abatement of a lust, to keep him 
from a new crucifying ? My soul, if religion bind 
thee not, if judgments terrify thee not, if natural af- 
fection incline thee not, yet let common reason per- 
suade thee to love him above a trifle, that loved thee 
above his life. And thou that hast so often denied 
him, deny thyself for ever, and he will own thee; re- 
pent and he will pardon thee; pray to him, and he 
will hear thee. 

ANON. 

•' He that loves himself most, hath of all men the 
happiness to have the fewest rivals." 

His prayer. 
O God, whose glory is the end of my creation, 



BOANERGES WD RARNADAS. 73 



Hit Prayer. 



and whose free mercy is the cause of my redemption ; 

that ga vest thy Son, thy only Son, to die for me, who 

else had perished in the common deluge of thy wrath; 

II I render for so great a mercy ? What 

i tarn for so infinite a love? — 

st that I can do is nothing; the best 

that J «aii pres< ill i «rorse thau nothing, sin. Lord if I 

yield my body for a sacrifice, I offer nothing but a 

lump of tilth and loathsome putrefaction; or if I 

gin my soul in contribution, I yield thee nothing. 

but thy image quite defaced and polluted with my 

: or if I spend the strength of the whole man, 
and with both heart and tongue confess and magnify 
thy name, how can the praises of my sinful lips, 
that breathe from such a sink, be pleasing to thee? 
J Jut Lord, since thou art pleased in thy well-pleasing 
Son to accept Mm poverty of my weak endeavours, 
send down thy holy spirit into my heart, cleanse it 
from the tilth of my corruptions, and make it fit to 
MJi Lord, open thou my mouth, and my 

-hall shew forth tin praise i'nt a new song 
into my month, and 1 will praise thee and confess 
tbee all day long. I will not hide thy goodness in 
my month, but will be sin-win:; forth thy truth and 
thy salvation. Let thy praises be my honour, and 
let thy goodness be the subject of my undaunted 
Lei neither reputation, wealth, nor life, be 

ioua to me in comparison with thee. Let not, 



74 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The worldly Man's Verdour. 



the world's derision daunt me, nor examples of in- 
fnmity deject me. Give me courage and wisdom to 
^tand for thy honour; O make me worthy, able, and 
willing to suffer for thy name. Lord, teach me to 
deny myself, and to resist the motions of iny own 
corruptions. Create in me, O God, a single heart, 
that I may love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. Re- 
member not, O Lord, the sins of my fear, and par- 
don the hypocrisy of my self-love. Wash me from 
the stains and guilt of this my heinous offence, and 
deliver me from this fearful judgment thou hast 
threatened in thy word. Convince all the arguments 
of my unsanc titied wit, whereby I have become an 
advocate to my sin. Grant that my life may adorn 
my profession, and make my tongue an instrument 
of thy glory. Assist me, O God, that I may praise 
thy goodness, and declare thy wonders among the 
children of men. Strengthen my faith, that I may 
trust thee ; and let my works so shine, that men 
may praise thee : that my heart believing unto 
righteousness, and my tongue confessing to salvation, 
I may be acknowledged by thee here, and glorified 
by thee in the kingdom of glory. 

SA. 

V. He that pleaseth himself, pleaseth a fool," 

'The worldly mans Verdour. 
LOR ought I sec, the case is even the same with 



BlUNF.RfJE* AND BARNABAS. 76 



The worldly M;iu'» Vcrdoiir. 



him that prays, and him that does not pray; with 
him that swears, ami him that fears an oath. I see 
do difference; if any, those that they call the wicked 
have the advantage; their flocks are even as fair, 
their flocks as numerous as theirs that wear the 
ground with their religions knees, and fast their bo- 
dies to a skeleton: nay, in the use of blessings 
(which only makes them so) they far exceed. They 
term me reprobate, and style me unregenerate. It 
is true, I eat my labours with a jolly heart, drink 
frolic cups, sweeten my pains with time-beguiling 
sports, make the best advantage of my own, pray 
when I think on it, swear when they urge me, hear 
sermons at my leisure, follow the lust of my own 
and take the pleasure of my own ways: and 
yet, < iod be thanked, my barns are furnished, my 
sheep stand sound, my cattle strong for labour, my 
pashm-, rich and nourishing, my body healthful, 
and my bags are full ; whilst they that are so pure, 
and make such conscience of their ways, that run 
to sermons, fig to lectures, pray thrice a day by the 
hour, hold faith and troth profane, and drinking 
healths a sin, do often find lean harvests easy flocks, 
and empty purses. Let them be godly, that can 

live on air and faith, and eaten up by zeal, can whine 

themsel selves into an hospital, or blesi their lips 

with charitable scraps. It' godliness have this re- 
Ward, to have short meats tor long prayers, weak 



s 



7G BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

— 
His Withering. 

estates for strong faiths, and good consciences upon 
such bad conditions, let them boast of their penny- 
worths, and let me be wicked still, and take my 
chance as falls. Let me have judgment to discover 
a profitable farm, and wit to take it at an easy rent, 
and gold to stock it in a liberal manner, and skill to 
manage it to my best advantage, and luck to find a 
good increase, and providence to husband wisely 
what 1 gain : I seek no further, and I wish no more; 
husbandry and religion are two several occupations, 
and look two several ways, and he is the only wise 
man can reconcile them. 

His withering. 

But stay, my soul, I fear thy reckoning fails thee. 
If thou hast judgment to discover, wit to bargain, 
gold to employ, skill to manage, providence to dis- 
pose ; canst thou command the clouds to drop ? Or 
if a wet season meet thy harvest, and with open 
sluices overwhelm thy hopes, canst thou Jet down 
the flood-gates, and stop the watery flux ? Canst 
thou command the sun to shine ? Canst thou forbid 
the mildews, or control the breath of the malignant 
east? Is not this God's sole prerogative? And hath 
not that God said, 

psalm xcii. 7. 

" When the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is 
that they shall be destroyed for ever." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 7 > 



Hi* Proof-. 



His proofs. 
job xxi. 7. 
'• Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, 
are mighty in power ? 

8. "Their seed is established in their sight, and 
their offspring before their eyes. 

• ; Their houses are safe from fear, neither is 
tlif wrath of God upon them. 

10. " Their bull gendereth, and faileth not ; their 
cow calvetli, and casteth not her calf. 

J 1. " They send forth their little ones like a flock, 
and their children dance. 

12. " They take the timbrel and the harp, and 
rejoice at the sound of the organ. 

13. " They spend their days in wealth, and in a 
moni' go down to the grave." 



\lf.. IN PARTEM 

'• Woe be to him that pursues empty and fading 
pleasures : b< cause in a short time he fats and pam 
If as a calf to the slaughter." 

BERNARD. 

1 There is no misery more true and real than fals«- 
ind counterfeit pleasure ' 

3 o 2 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy. 



HIERON. 

" It is not only difficult, but impossible, to have 
heaven here and hereafter; to live in sensual lusts, 
and to attain spiritual bliss ; to pass from one para- 
dise to another; to be a mirror of felicity in both 
worlds; to shine with glorious rays both in this 
globe of earth, and the orb of heaven." 



. 



His soliloquy. 
How sw r eet a feast is, till the reckoning come 
A fair day, ends often in a cold night, and the roa 
that is pleasant ends in hell. If worldly pleasures 
had the promise of continuance, prosperity were 
some comfort ; but in this necessary vicissitude of 
good and evil, the prolonging of adversity sharpens 
it. It is no common thing, my soul, to enjoy t^vo 
heavens : Dives found it in the present, Lazarusain 
the future. Hath thy increase met with no damage? 
thy reputation with no scandal ? thy pleasure with 
no cross ! thy prosperity with no adversity ? Hre- 
sume not : God's checks are symptoms of his mer- 
cy ; but his sileflce is the harbinger of a judgm 
Be circumspect and provident, my soul. Hast t 
a fair summer? provide for a hard winter: Ithe 
world's river ebbs alone ; it flows not : he that { oes 
merrily with the stream, must hale up. Flaftter 
thyself, therefore, no longer in thy prosperous sin 
O my deluded soul, but be truly sensible of thy own 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 79 



His Prayer. 



i 



presumption. Look seriously into thy approaching 
danger, and humble thyself with true contrition. If 

thou procure sour herbs, God will provide his pass- 
over. 

Bis prayer. 
How weak is man, O God, when thou forsakest 
him' how foolish are his counsels, when he plots 
without thee! how wild his progress when he wan- 
ders from thee ! How miserable till he return unto 
nee! How his wits fail! How his wisdom faul- 
ters ! How his wealth melts ! How his providence 
is befooled ! and how his soul beslaved ! Thou 
strikest off the ehariot-w heels of his inventions, and 
hi is perplexed : thou confoundest the babel of his 
•Aginations, and he is troubled. Thou crossest 
ha designs, that he may fear thee; and thou stop- 
pat him in his ways, that he may know thee. How 
merciful art thou, OGod, and in thy very judgments, 
O Lord, how gracious ! Thou mightest have struck 
me into the lowest pit as easily as on these bended 
knles, and yet been justified in my confusion; but 
thou hast threatened like a gentle father, as loath to 
punish thy ungracious child. Thou knowest the 
crooked thoughts of m;iu are vain, still turning 
point to their contriver's ruin. Thou sawesi me 
wandering in the maze of death, whilst I with vio- 
lence pursued my own destruction, Uut thou hast 



80 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

r 

warned me by thy sacred word, and took me off 
that I might live to praise thee. Thou art my confi- 
dence, O God ; thou art the rock, and the rock of 
my salvation. Thy word shall be my guide, for all 
thy paths are mercy and truth. Lord, when I look 
upon my former worldliness, I utterly abhor my con- 
versation : strengthen me with thy assistance, that 
I may lead a new life ; make me more and more sen- 
sible of my own condition, and perfect thou the good 
work thou hast begun in me. In all my designs be 
thou my counsellor, that I may prosper in my un- 
dertakings. In all my actions be thou my guide, 
that I may keep the path of thy commandments. 
Let all my own devices come to nought, lest I presume 
upon the arm of flesh: let not my wealth increase 
without thy blessing,, lest I be fatted up against the 
day of slaughter. Have thou a hand in all my just 
employments, then prosper thou the work of thy 
hands ; O prosper thou thy handy-work, and make 
it mine, who have no interest in it till thou own me 
as thy child. Then shall my soul rejoice in thy fa- 
vours, and magnify thy name for all thy mercies: 
then shall my lips proclaim thy loving-kindness, and 
sing thy praises for ever and ever. 
eclles. xi. 9. 
" Walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight 
of thine eyes : But know thou that for all these 
things God will bring thee to judgment." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 81 



The Lascivious Man's Heaven. 



The lascivious man's heaven. 
CAN flesh and blood be so unnatural to forget 
tlie laws of nature? canblowiug youth immure 
within the icy walls of \ .stal chastity? Can lusty 
• lift and mollitious rest bring forth no ether fruits 
but faint rigid thoughts, and phlegmatic 

- Should we be stocks and stones, and 
(having active souls) turn altogether passives? 
Must we turn Ancorites, and spend our days in 
3 and hermitages, and smother up our precious 
hours in cloistered folly, and recluse devotion? Can 
checks, can ruby lips, can snowy breasts and 
-parkin:- eyes, present their beauties and perfec- 
tions to the Bprightly view of young mortality? And 
must \\r stand like statues w ithout sense or motion? 
Can Btfid religion impose such cruel tasks 
even impossible commands upon the togjng thoughts 
Of her Ufthapp) vofaries, as to withstand and con- 
tradict the instinct and very principals of nature? 
Can fair-pretending piet) be so barbarous to con- 
demn us to the flames of our affections, and make 
as martyrs to our own desires? Is it not enough to 
conquer the reb< llions actions of imperious flesh, 
but rouHl we manacle her bands, darken her eyes, 
nay, worse, restrain the freedom of her 1 ve» 
thou.:,, ' Can full perfection be expected here? 
Or can our work b< p rfectin this vale of imper- 



82 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Hdl. 



fection ! This were a life for angels, but a task too 
hard for frail, for transitory man. Come, come, we 
are but men, but flesh and blood, and our born frail- 
firs cannot grapple with such potent tyranny. What 
nature and necessity requires us to do, is venial, be- 
ing done. Come, strive no more against so strong 
a stream, but take thy fill of beauty ; solace thy 
wanton heart with amorous contemplations ; clothe 
all thy words with courtly rhetoric, and soften thy 
lips with dialects of love; surfeit thyself with plea- 
sure, and melt thy passion into warm delights ; walk 
into natures universal bower, and pick what flower 
does most surprise thineeye; drink of all waters, but 
be tied to none; spare neither cost nor pains to com- 
pass thy desires. Enjoy varieties : emparadise thy 
soul in fresh delights. The change of pleasure 
makes thy pleasure double. Ravish thy senses 
viilh perpetual choice, and glut thy soul with all the 
delicates of love. 

Bis Hell 
But hold ! there is a voice that whispers in my 
troubled ear; a voice that blanks my thoughts, and 
stops the course of my resolves ; a voice that chills 
the bosom of my soul, and fills me with amazement: 
mark. 

GAL. V. 21. 

" They which do such things shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 83 

» — 

His Prayrr. 



His proofs. 

EXOD. XX. 14. 

" Thou shalt not commit adultery/' 

MATTH. V. 28. 

" V» > a woman to Inst after her, 

halh committed a* ultery with her already in his 

rom. xiii. 13. 
" Let us walk honestly as in the day: not in 
rioting or drunkenness, nor in chambering, nor in 
wantonness." 

1 PETER ii. 1 I. 

" Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against 
til." 



Ml \b. 

1 Woe be to the fornicator and adulterer, for his 
garment is defiled and spotted, and the heavenly 
Bridegroom casts him out from his chaste pop* 
lials. 

A world of presumptuous and heinous o^fiencet 
do arise and spring from the ulthy fountain of adul- 
Ju-t, whereb) the gate df heaven ja shut, and 
poor men excluded from 6od. 



84 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy. 



S. GREG. MOR. 

" Hence the flesh lives in sensual delights for a 
moment, but the immortal soul perisheth for ever." 

His soliloquy. 
Lust is a brand of original fire, raked up in the 
embers of flesh and blood, uncovered by a natural 
inclination, blown by corrupt communication, 
quenched with fasting and humiliation. It is raked 
up in the best, uncovered in the most and blown in 
thee, O my lustful soul. O turn thine ear from the 
pleadings of nature, and make a covenant with 
thine eyes. Let not the language of Delilah inchant 
thee, lest the hands of the Philistines surprise thee. 
Review thy past pleasures, with the charge and 
pains thou hadst to compass them, and shew me, 
where is thy penny-worth ? Foresee what punish- 
ments are prepared to meet thee, and tell me what 
is thy purchase ? Thou hast bartered away thy 
God for a lust; sold thy eternity for a trifle. If 
this bargain may be recalled by tears, dissolve thee, 
O my soiil, into a spring of waters; if to be reversed 
with price, reduce thy whole estate into a sack- 
cloth and an ash-tub. Thou whose liver hath 
scorched in the flames of lust, humble thy heart in 
ilie ashes of repentance; and as, with Esau, thou 
hast sold thy birth- right for broth, so with Jacob 
wrestle by prayer till thou get a blessing. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 85 



His Pravcr. 



ANONYM. 

" Consider well, how empty thy pleasure will be 
when il is past, and thou cuttestofV the chief strength 
of the temptation" 

His prayer. 

O Cod. before whose face the angels are impure, 

befoi clear omniscience all actions appear, to 

whom the very secrets of the hearts are open; I here 

acknowledge, to thy glory and m> shame, the filthi- 

and vile impurity of my nature. Lord, I was 
filthy in my very conception, and in filthiuess my 
mother's womb inclosed me, brought forth in iilthi- 
ness, and filthy is my very iunocency, filthy in die 

mis of my flesh, and filthy in the apprehensions 
of my sotd; my words ail clothed with filthiness, 
and in all my actions filthy and unclean; in my in 
clination filthy, and in the who!: of my life 

nothing but a continued filthiness. Wash me, O 
God, apd make me clean ; cleanse me from the fiTthi 

of my corruption. Purge me, O Lord, with 

»p, and create a clean heart within me. ( 'or- 
ut motions of my flesh, and quench 
the fiery darts of Satan. Let not tin- Jaw of my 

ruptecl members rule me; O let concupiscence have 

no dominion over me. Give me courage to fight 

-l my lusts, and give my weal>n< 

nme: make sharp my sword against this bodi 
jf SIB, but most against my Delilah, my bosoill sill 
3 I 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



Deliver me from the tyranny of temptation, or give 
me power to subdue it. Confine the liberty of my 
wanton appetite, and give me temperance in a sober 
diet. Grant me a heart to strive with thee in prayer, 
and hopeful patience to attend thy leisure. Keep 
me from the habit of an idle life, and close mine ears 
against corrupt communication. Set thou a watch 
before my lips, that all my words may savour ut' so- 
briety. Preserve me from the vanity and pride < f 
life, that I may walk blameless in my conversation. 
Protect me from the fellowship of the unclean, and 
from all such as are of evil report. Let thy grace, 
O God, be sufficient for me, to protect my soul from 
the bufferings of Satan. Make me industrious and 
diligent in my calling, lest the enemy get advantage 
over me. In all my temptations let me have recourse 
to thee. Be thou my refuge when 1 call upon thee. 
Forgive, O God, the sins of my youth, Q pardon the 
multitudes of my secret sins. Encrease my hatred 
to my former life, and strengthen my resolution for 
the time future. Hear me, O God, and let the words 
of my mouth be always acceptable to thee, O God, 
my strength and my Redeemer. 
s. hiekom. 
" Pleasure leaves behind it a greater thirst, than 
that which it pretends to quench ; and though it be 
taken in a full draught, vet does not satisfy." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 87 
A 



bath-breaker's Profanation. 



prov. vi. 27. 
" Can a man take fire into his bosom, and bis 
clothes not be burnt ?" 

Tin Sabbat li-brealf r s profanation. 
The glittering Prince that sits upon his regal 
and imperial throne, and the, ignoble peasant that 
i within his sordid house of thatch, are both 
alike to God. An ivory temple and a church of 
claj .ire prized alike by him. The flesh of bulls, 
and the perfumes of myrrh and cassia smoke his 
altars with an equal pleasure: and does he make 
such difference of days? Is he that was so weary 
of the new-moons, so taken with the sun, to tie his 
sabbath to that only day? the tenth in tyihes is 
:m\ one in ten, and wh) the seventh day not any 
one in seven : We sanctify the day, the day not us. 
But ai Are we still bound to keep a 

legal sabbath in the strictness of the letter ? Have 
toe Gentiles no privilege by the virtue of Messiah's 
coming? or has the evangelical sabbath no im- 
munities'- The service done, the day is dischai 
my liberty restored ; and if 1 meet my profits or my 
pleasures then, 1 will pve them entertainment, if 
business call me to account, I dare afford a careful 
or if my sports |ni ite me, I will entertain them 
with a eheerful heart. I will • '.tins with 

as touch devotion as my n< 1 will maki 



88 BOANFRGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Extirpation. 



as low obeisance and as just responds as any: but 
as soon as even-song is ended, my church-devotion 
and my psalter shall sanctify my pew till the next 
sabbath call. Were it no more for an old custom's 
sake than for the good I find in sabbaths, that cere- 
mony might as well be spared. It is a day of rest : 
and what is a rest? A relaxation from the toil of 
labour. And what is labour but a painful exercise 
of the frail body ? But where the exercise admits 
no toil, there relaxation makes no rest. What la- 
bour is it for the worldly man to compass sea and 
land to accomplish his desires ? What labour is it 
for the impatient lover to measure Hellespont with 
his widened arms to hasten his delight? What la- 
bour for the youth to number music with their 
sprightly paces ? Where leisure is reconciled to la- 
bour, labour is butan active rest. Why should the 
sabbath then, a day of rest, divorce from those de- 
lights that make thy rest ? Afflict their souls that 
please ; my rest shall be what most conduces to 
my heart's delight. Two hours will vent more 
prayers than I shall need, the rest remains for 
pleasure. 

His extirpation. 

Conscience, why startest thou ? A judgment 
strikes me from the mouth of heaven, and saith, 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Proofs. 



EXOD. xwi. 14. 
" Whosoever doth any work on my sabbath, his 
soul shall be cut off." 

His proofs. 
EXOD. XX. S } 9, &c. 
" Remember to keep holy the sabbath-day ; six 
days shall thou labour and do all that thou hast to 
do : but the seventh day," &c. 

exod. xxxi. 13, 14. 
" Ye shall keep my sabbath, for it is holy unto 
you. 

" Verily my sabbaths thou shalt keep, for this is a 
sign betwixt me and you, throughout your gene- 
rations. v 

luke xxiii. 56. 
nl they returned and prepared spices and oint- 
nients, and rested on the sabbath-day according to 
immandment." 



GREOOR. 

" We ought upon the Lord's da\ t.» rest from bo- 
dily labour, and wholly to addict ourselves to pray- 
ers ; that whatsoever hath been done: amiss the week 
before, may upon the da\ of our Lord's itsuiroe 
expiated and purged I »> fervent prayers. " 



00 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 
CYR. ALEX. 

" Sin is the store-house of death and misery, it 
kindles flames for its dearest friends. Therefore 
whosoever, when he should rest from sin, busieth 
himself in the dead and fruitless works of wicked- 
ness, and renouncing all piety, lusts after such 
things as will bring him into eternal destruction and 
everlasting flames, justly deserves to die and perish 
with the damned ; because when he might have 
enjoyed a pious rest, he laboured to run headlong 
to his own destruction/' 

His soliloquy. 
My soul, how hast thou profaned that day thy 
God hath sanctified ! How hast thou encroached on 
that which heaven hath set apart ! If thy impatience 
cannot act a sabbath twelve hours, what happiness 
canst thou expect in a perpetual sabbath ? Is six 
days too little for thyself, and two hours too much 
for thy God ? O my soul, how dost thou prize tem- 
porals beyond eternals ? Is it equal that God who 
gave thee a body, and six days to provide for it, 
should demand one day of thee, and be denied it ? 
How liberal a receiver art thou, and how miserable 
a requiter ! But know, my soul, his sabbaths are 
the apple of his eye. lie that hath power to vindi- 
cate the breach of it, hath threatened judgments to 
the breaker thereof. The God cf mercy, that hath 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 90 



The Liar's Fallacies. 



at his infirmities. Make me careful in the examina- 
tion of my own ways, and most severe against my 
own offences. Pull out the beam out of my own 
eye, that I may see clearly, and reprove wisely. 
Take from me, O Lord, all grudging, envy and 
malice, that my seasonable reproofs may win my 
brother. Preserve my heart from all censorious 
thought, and keep my tongue from striking at his 
name. Grant that I make right use of his 
infirmities, and read good lessons in his failings; 
that loving him in thee, and thee in him, according 
thy command, we may both be united in thee 
as members of thee, that thou mayst receive honour 
from our communion here, and we eternal glory 
from thee hereafter in the world to come. 

TH. DE. KEMPIS. 

" There are two lessons which God every day 
his elect: One, to see their own faults; the 
other, the goodness of God. 



The liar's Jul fan, 

NAY, if religion be so strict a law, to bind my 
tongue to the necessity of a truth on all occasions, 
at all times, and in all places, the gate is too strait 
forme to enter; or if the general rules of down- 
right truth will admit no few exceptions, fan well 
all honest mirth, farewell all trading, farewell the 
whole converse betwixt man and man. If always 

No. 14. 3 f 



100 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The Liar's Fallacies. 



to speak punctual truth be the true symptom of a 
blessed soul, Tom tell-truth has a happy time, and 
fools and children are the only men. If truth sit 
regent, in what faithful breast shall secrets find re- 
pose ? What kingdom can be safe? What com- 
mon wealth can be secure ? What, war can be suc- 
cessful ? What stratagem can prosper ? If bloody 
times should force religion to shroud itself beneath 
my roof, upon demand, shall my false truth betray 
it ? Or shall my brother s life, or shall my own be 
seized upon through the cruel truth of my down- 
right confession ? or rather not be secured by a fair 
officious lie? Shall the righteous favourite of 
Egypt's Tyrant, by virtue of a loud lie, sweeten out 
his joy, heighten up his soft affection with the An- 
tiperistasis of tears ? and may ] not prevaricate 
with a sullen truth to save a brother's life from a 
bloody-thirsty hand? Shall Jacob and his too in- 
dulgent mother conspire in a lie to purchase a 
paternal blessing in the false name and habit of a 
supplanted brother? and shall I question to pre- 
serve the granted blessing of a life or livelihood 
with a harmless lie ? Come, come, my soul, let not 
thy timorous conscience check at such poor things 
as these. So long as thy officious tongue aims at a 
just end, a lie is no offence; so long as thy perjuri- 
ous lips confirm not thy untruth with an audacious 
brow, thou needest not fear. The weight of the 
cause relieves the burthen of the crime. Is thy cen- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 101 



His Flam 



tregood? No matter how crooked the lines of the 
circumference be; Policy allows it. If thy jour- 
ney's end be heaven, it matters not how full of hell 
thy journey be ; Divinity allows it. Will thou 
condemn the Egyptian Midwifes for saving the in- 
fant Israelites by so merciful a lit-? When martial 
execution is to be dune, wilt thou fear to kill ? When 
hunger drives thee to 'he gates of death, wilt thou 
be afraid to steal ? When civil wars divide a king- 
dom, will .Mercuries decline a lie ? No, circum- 
stances excuse, as well as make the lie. Had Cae- 
sar, Scipio, or Alexander been regulated by such 
strict divinity, their name had been as silent as their 
dost. A lie is but a fair put of}', the sanctuary of a 
i, the riddle of a lover, the stratagem of a Sol- 
dier, tin.- policy of a Statesman, and a salve for many 
desperate Bor» s. 

Uisfhinics. 

Hut hark, my soul, there is something round*; 
mine ear, and calls my language to a recantation. 
The Lord hath spoken it. 

M Liars shall have their part in the lake which burn 
eth with lire and brimstone." Rev. vxi. b\ 

I Us proofs. 
"Thou Blialt not raise a false report, Ex. xx." 

4 r 2 



102 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Flames. — His Proofs. 
LEVIT. xix. 1J. 

" Ye shall not deal falsely, neither lie one to 
another." 

prov. xii. 22. 
" Lying lips are abomination to the Lord : but 
they that deal truly are his delight." 
trov. xix. 5. 
"■ He that speaketh lies shall not escape." 

EPHES. iv. 25. 
" Put away lying, and every one speak truth with 
his neighbour : for we are members one of another." 
revel, xxi. 27. 
" There shall in no wise enter into the new Jeru- 
salem any thing that worketh abomination or that 
maketh a lie." 



s. AUGUST. 

" Whosoever thiuks there is anykind of lie that 
is not a sin, shamefully deceives himself, mistaking a 
lying or cozening knave for a square or honest man.'' 

GREGOR. 

" Eschew and avoid all falshood : though sometime 
certain kinds of untruth are less sinful, as to tell a 
lie to save a man's life; yet because the scripture 
saith, The liar slayeth his own soul, and God will 
destroy them that tell a lie, therefore religious and 
feoaest men should always avoid even the best sort 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 103 

His Soliloquy. 

of lies; neither ought another mans life to be se- 
cured by eur falshood or lying, lest we destroy 
our own soul in labouring to secure another man's 
life." 

His soliloquy. 
What a child, O my soul, hath thy false bosom 
harboured ! And what reward can thy indulgence 
expect from such a father ? What blessing canst 
thou hope from heaven, that pleadest for the son of 
the devil, and crucifiest the Son of God? God is the 
Father of truth. To secure thy estate thou deniest 
the truth by framing of a lie: to save thy brother's 
life thou opposest the truth in jnstifiying a lie. 
Now tell me, O my soul, art thou worthy the name 
of a Christian, that deniest and opposest the nature 
of Christ? Art thou worthy of Christ, that preferrest 
thy estate or thy brother s life before him ? O my un- 
righteous soul, canst thou hold thy brother worthy of 
death for giving thee the lie, and thyself guiltless that 
makest a lie? But in some cases truth destroys 
thy life; a lie preserves it. My soul, was God thy 
Creator? then make not the Devil thy preserver. 
Wilt thou despair to trust him with thy life that 
gave it, and make him thy protector that seeks to 
destroy it ? Reform thee and repent thee, O my soul ; 
hold not thy life on such conditions, but trust thee 
to the hands that made thee. 



104 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Prayer. 



S. HIEROM. 

" Let not thy tongue know how to lie or swear; 
and let there be in thee so great a love of truth, that 
thou account whatever thou sayest as sealed with 
an oath." 

His prayer. 
O God, that art the God of truth, whose word 
is truth, that hatest lying lips, and abominatest the 
deceitful tongue, that banishest thy presence all such 
as love or make a lie, and lovest truth, and requirest 
uprightness in the inward parts; I, the most wretch- 
of the sons of men, and most unworthy to be called 
thy son, make bold to cast my sinful eyes to heaven. 
Lord, I have sinned against heaven and against 
truth, and have turned thy grace into a lie. I 
have renounced the ways of righteousness, and 
have harboured much iniquity within me , which 
hath turned thy wrath against me. I have trans- 
gressed against the checks of my own conscience, 
and have vaunted of my transgression : which way 
soever I turn mine eyes, I see no object but shame 
and confusion. Lord, when I look upon myself, I 
find nothing there but fuel for thy wrath, and matter 
for thine indignation and my condemnation. And 
when I cast mine eyes to heaven, I there behold an 
angry God, and a severe revenger. But, Lord, at 
thy right hand I see a Saviour and a sweet Re- 
deemer. 1 see thy wounded Son clothed in my 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 105 



His Pravt r. 



flesh, and bearing mine infirmities, and interceding 
for my numerous transgressions ; for which my soul 
doth magnify thee, God, and mv spirit rejorceth 
in him my Saviour. Lord, when thou lookest upon 
the vast -cure of my offences, turn thine eyes upon 
tin; infinite merits of his satisfaction. O when thy 
justice calls to mind my sins, let not thy mercy for- 
get his sufferings. Wash me, O wash me in his 
blood, and thou shalt see me clothed in his righteous- 
Let him that is all in all to me, be all in all 
forme; make him to me sanctification, justification 
and redemption. Inspire my heart with the spirit 
of thy truth, and preserve me from the deceitfulness 
of double tongues. Give me an inward conh'dence 
to rely upon thy fatherly providence, that neither 
fear may deter me, nor any advantage may turn me 
from tin- wa\s of thy truth. Let not the specious 
goodness of the end encourage me to the unlawful* 
Of the means, bat let thy word be the warrant 
to all my actions, (.nule my footsteps that I may 

walk uprightly, ami quicken my conscience that it 
may reprove my failings. Cause me to feel the bur- 
then of this my habitual sin, that coming to thee by 
atrue and serious repentance, my sins may obtain a 
full and a -radons forgiveness. ( Jive me a heart to 

make a covenant wits my lips: that both my heart 

and tongue being sanctified by thy Spirit, may be 
both united in truth by thy mercy, and magnify thy 
name for e\ ( r and for ever. 



10G BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The revengeful Man s Rage. 



STR. 

"He that is afraid to tell the truth, denieth him- 
self to be a man.'' 

The revengeful maris rage. 
O what a julip to my scorching soul is the delici- 
ous blood of my offender! And how it cools the 
burning fever of my boiling veins ! It is the quint- 
essence of pleasures, the height of satisfaction, and 
the very marrow of all delight, to bathe and paddle 
in the blood of such whose bold affronts have turned 
my wounded patience into fury. How full of sweet- 
ness was his death, who dying, was revenged upon 
three thousand enemies? How sweetly did the 
younger brother's blood allay the soul-consuming 
flames of the elder, who took more pleasure in his 
last breath, than heaven did in his first sacrifice? 
Yet had not heaven condemned his action, nature 
had found an advocate for his passion. What sturdy 
spirit bath the power to rule his suffering thoughts, 
or curb the head-strong fury of his irascible affect- 
ions ? Or who but fools (that cannot taste an injury) 
can moderate their high-bred spirits, and stop their 
passion in her full career? Let heavy Cynicks, they 
whose leaden souls are taught by stupid reason to 
stand bent at every wrong, that can digest an injury 
more easily than a compliment, that can protest 
against the laws of nature, and cry all natural affect- 
ion down, let them be and-irons from the injurious 



BOANERGES AND BvRNABAS. 107 

-». » — * — 

H - Retaliation. 

world to work a heat upon ; let them tind shoulders 
to receive the painful stripes of peevish mortals, and 
to bear the wrongs of daring- insolence; let them be 
drawn Hke calves prepared for slaughter, and bow 
their servile necks to sharp destruction; let them 
submit their slavish bosoms to be trod and trampled 
under foot at every one's pleasure: my eagle-spirit 
flies a higher pitch, and like ambitious Phaeton 
climbs into the liery chariot, and drawn with fury, 
scorn, revenge, and honour, rambles through all the 
spheres, and brings with it confusion and combustion: 
my reeking sword shall vindicate my reputation, and 
rectify the injuries of my honourable name, and 
quench itself la the plenteous streams of blood. 
Come, tell not me of charity, conscience, or trans- 
ion. Mv charity reflects upon myself, begins 
at home, and guided by the justice of my passion, 
i^ hound t<> labour for an honourable satisfaction. 
My consciuM < is blood-proof, and I can broa< h a 
life with my illustrious weapon irrlfa as little re- 
luctance as kill a ilea that sucks my blood without 
OQtiMlisttorJ ; and I can drink a health iu blood up- 
on my t*tided knee to n -nutation. 

J lis reliUuilion. 
But hark, my soul, I beat a languishing, a dying 
voice cry up to heaven for vengeance. It cries 
'J ii 



108 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Proofs. 

aloud, and thunders in my startling ear. I tremble, 
and my shivering bones are filled with horror. It 
cries against me : and hear what Heaven replies, 

" All that take up the sword shall perish by the 
sword," Mat. xxvi. 52. 

His proofs. 
lev. xix. 18. 
" Thou shalt not avenge, or bear any grudge 
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt 
love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." 
deut. xxxii. 35. 
" To me belongeth vengeance and recompence." 

ezek. xxv. 12, 13. 
" Because that Edom hath dealt against the 
house of Judah, by taking vengeance, and hath 
greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them : 
" Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will also 
stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off 
man and beast from it." 

matt. v. 39. 
" Resist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee 
on. the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 100 

His Soliloquy. 
TERTUL. 

*' What is the difference between one that doth 
an injury, and another that outrageously sutlers it, 
except that the one is first, and the other second in 
the offence ? but both are guilty of mutual injury 
10 the sight of God, who forbids every sin, and con- 
demns the offender." 

IDEM. 

" How can we honour God, if we revenge our- 
selves 

GLOSS. 

11 Every man is a murlheier, and shall be pun- 
ished as Cain was, if he do (as Cain did) either 
assault his brother with violence, or pursue him with 
hatred." 

His soliloquy i 
Revenge is an act of the irascible affections, deli- 
berated with malice, and executed without mercy. 
J low often, Omy soul, hast thou cursed thyself in 
the perfectest of Prayers? how often hast thou 
turned the spiritual body of thy Saviour into thy 
damnation - can the Sun rise t<> thy comfort, that 
hath so often set io thy wrath? So long as thy 
wrath is kindled against thy brother, bo long is the 
wrath of God bnrniug against thee. wouldst 
thou offer a pleasing sacrifice to heaven ? < in first 
9 u 2 



110 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

and be reconciled to thy brother. But who shall 
right thy honour then ? Is thy honour wronged ? 
Forgive, and it is vindicated. But this kind of 
heart-swelling can brook no poultice but revenge. 
Take heed, my soul, the remedy is worse than the 
disease. If thy intricate distemper transcend thy 
power, make choice of a physician that can purge 
that humour that foments thy malady. Rely upon 
him; submit thy 'will to his directions: he hath a 
tender heart, a skilful hand, a watchful eye, that 
makes thy welfare the price of all his pains, expect- 
ing no reward, no fee, but praises and thanksgiving. 

S. BERNARD. 

Ci Be humble in asking of pardon, and easy in 
giving it, and thou wilt be at peace with all the 
world." 

His prayer. 
O God thou art the God of peace, and the lover 
of unity and concord, that dost command all those 
that seek forgiveness, to forgive; that hatest the 
froward heart, but shewest mercy to the meek in 
spirit; with what a face can I appear before thy 
mercy-seat ? or with what countenance can I lift up 
these hands thus slained with my brother's blood ? 
How can my lips, that daily breed revenge against 
my brother, presume to own thee as my father, or 
expect from thee thy blessing as thy child ? If thou 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. Ill 



Hii Prayer. 



forgive my trespasses* O God, as I forgive my tres- 
rs, in what a miserable estate am 1, that in 
my very prayers condemn myself, and do not only 
limit thy compassion by my uncharitableness, but 
draw thy judgments on my head for my rebellion ? 
That heart, dud, whirl) thou requirest as a holy 
p ro— lit, is become a spring of malice. These hands 
which I advance, are ready instruments oi base re- 
My thoughts, that should be sanctified, are 
lull of blood, and how to compass evil against my 
brother is my continual meditation. The course of 
all my life is wilful disobedience, and my whole plea- 
sure, Lord, is to displease tine. My conscience 
hilh accused me, and the voice of blood hath cried 
against me: but, Lord, the blood of Jesus cries 
louder than the blood of Abel, and thy mercy is far 
more infinite than my sin. The blood that was shed 
liv Hie cries for vengeance, but the blood that was 
shed ft)r in* gaes for mercy. Lord, hear the lan- 
gVSge of this blond, and b\ the merits of this \oicebe 
reconciled unto me. That lime which cannot be re- 
<;'ll'd, () give me powet to redeem, and in the 
i Hum ;i settled resolution to reform. Suppress 
the violence of my headlong passion, and establish 
a meek spirit within me. Let the BIgbttf my own 
vilciiess take from me the lenae of all disgrace, and 
let the croWfl of ID) reputation be thy honour. Pos- 
mv heart w ith a desire of unity and concord, ami 



112 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The secure Man's Triumph. 



give me patience to endure what my impenitency 
hath deserved. Breathe into my soul the spirit of 
love, and direct my affections to their right object : 
turn all my anger against that sin that hath provoked 
thee, and give me holy revenge, that I may exercise 
it against myself. Grant that I may love thee for 
thyself, myself in thee, and ray neighbour as myself. 
Assist me, O God, that I may subdue all evil in my- 
self, and suffer patiently all evil as a punishment 
from thee. Give me a merciful heart, O God ; 
make it slow to wrath and ready to forgive. Pre- 
serve me from the act of evil, that I may be delivered 
from thefear of evil; that living herein charity with 
men, I may receive that sentence of, Come ye bles- 
sed, in the kingdom of Glory. 

The secure man's triumph. 
So now, my soul, thy happiness is entailed, and 
thy illustrious name shall live in thy succeeding ge- 
nerations. Thy dwelling is established in the fat of 
all the land ; thou hast what mortal heart can wish, 
and wantest nothing but immortality. The best of 
all the land is thine, and thou art planted in the best 
of lands. A land whose constitutions make the best 
of government, which governnent is strengthened 
with the best of laws, which laws are executed by 
the best of princes; whose prince, whose laws, 
whose government, whose land makes us the hap- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 113 



ure IImI'i Triumph. 



piestofall subjects, makes us the happiest of all 
people. A land of strength, of plenty, and a land of 
peace; where every soul may sit beneath iiis vine, 1111- 
frightedatthe horrid language of the hoarse trumpet 
uustartled at the warklike summons of the roaring 
cannon. A land whose beauty hath surprized the 
ambitious hearts of foreign princes, and taught them 
by their martial oratory to make their vain attempts. 
A land whose Strength reads vanity in the deceived 
hopes of conquerors, and crowns their enterprizes 
with a shameful overthrow. A land whose native 
plenty makes her the world's exchange, supplying 
others, able to Bubsist without supply from foreign 
kingdoms; in itself happy, and abroad honourable. 
A land that hath no vanity, but what the sweetest 
Of all blessings, peace and plenty; that hath no 
misery bnt whal is propagated from that blindness 

which cannot sec her own felicity. A laud that 
flowi with milk and honey, and in brief wants 

nothing to deserve the title oft paradise- The curb 

of Spain, the pride of ( iermany, the aid of Bi 

aorge of Prance, the empress of the world, and 

queen of nation-. She is begirt with walls, wJlOSe 

builder was the hand of heaven, whereon there daily 
ride- a navy-royal, n hose unconquerable power pro- 
claim^ her prince iu\ ineible, and \\ !iispt rs sad des- 
pair into the fainting lii arts of foreign majesty, -s-lre 



114 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His overthrow. — His proofs. 

is compact within herself in unity, not apt to civil 
discords, or intestine broils: the envy of all nations, 
the ambition of all princes, the terror of all enemies, 
the security of all neighbouring states. Let timorous 
pulpits threaten ruin, let prophesying church-men 
dote, till I believe. How often and how loug have 
these loud sons of thunder false-prophesied her deso- 
lation ? and yet she stands the glory of the world. 
Can pride demolish the towers that defend her? 
Can drunkenness dry up the sea that walls her? 
Can flames of lust dissolve the ordinances that pro- 
tect her? 

His overthrow. 
Be well advised, my soul, there is a voice from 
heaven roars louder than ordinances, which saith, 
" Thus saith the Lord, The whole land shall be de- 
solate," Jer. iv. 27. 

His proofs. 
isai. xiv. 7, &c. 
" The whole earth is at rest and at quiet, tbe.y 
break forth into singing. 

" Yea the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars 
of Lebanon sing," &c. 

" Yet shalt thou be brought down to Hell, to the 
nides of the pit" 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 116 

His ProoN. 
JER. V. 19. 

" They have belied the Lord, and said, II is not 
he, neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall 
we see sword or famine." 

1 cor. x. 12. 
Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 ' 

liki. xvii. '11. 
They did eat and drink, anil they married wives 
and were given in marriage, until the flood came and 
'< Btroyed them all.*' 



s. AUOl^T. 

" Whilst Lot was exercised in suffering reproacli 
and \ioluicr, he continued holy and pure, cncii in 
tin filth 0/ Sodom : hut in tlie mount, beiua; in peace 
and safety, he was surprized by sensual security, 
and drilled himself with his own daughters." 
«.i;r.(i. .mai;. 

" Our prosperous and happy state is ofteq the oc- 
casion of more auserable ruin: a Ion- peace haih 
made many men both careless and cowardly; ami 

that is the moel fatal blow when an unexpected ene- 

m\ BUrpriselh US in a deep bleep of peace and 



2 i 



116 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 

His soliloquy. 
Security is an improvident carelessness, casting 
out all fear of approaching danger. It is like a 
great calm at sea, that foreruns a storm. How is 
this verified, O my sad soul, in this our bleeding 
nation ! Wert thou not till now for many years even 
muzzled in the bosom of habitual peace ? Didst thou 
foresee this danger ? Or couldst thou have contrived 
a way to be thus miserable? Didst thou not laugh 
invasion to scorn ? or didst thou not less fear a civil 
war ? Was not the title of the crown unquestionable? 
And was not our mixed government unapt to fall in- 
to diseases? Did we want good laws? or did our 
laws want execution ? Did not our prophets give 
lawful warning ? Or were we moved at the sound of 
judgments ? How hast thou lived, O my uncareful 
soul, to see these prophecies fulfilled, and to behold 
the vials of thy angry God poured forth ? Since mer- 
cies, O my soul, could not allure thee, yet let these 
judgments now at length enforce thee to a true re-> 
pentance. Quench the fire-brand which thou hast 
kindled ; turn thy mirth to right mourning, and thy 
feasts of joy to humiliation. 

CASSIAN. 

"There is no better expedient of security, than to 
commit all our interest to God, who knows how to 
give good things to them that ask him." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 117 



Hi« Pravtr. 



Ilia prayer. 
O God, by whom kings reign aud kingdoms flou- 
rish, that settest up where none can batter down, and 
pullest down where none can countermand; I, a 
most humble suiter at the the throne of grace, ac- 
knowledge myself unworthy of the least of all thy 
mercies, nay, worthy of the greatest of all thy judg- 
ments. I have sinned against thee, the author of my 
being; I have sinned against my conscience, which 
thou hast made my accuser; I have sinned against 
the peace of this kingdom, whereof thou hast made 
me a member: if all should do, O God, as I have 
done, Sodom would appear as righteous, and Go- 
morrah would be a precedent to thy wrath upon 
this sinful nation. But, Lord, thy mercy is inscru- 
table, or else my misery were unspeakable: for that 
mercy sake be gracious to me in the free pardoning 
of all my offences. Blot them out of thy remem- 
brance for his sake, in whom thou art well pleased. 
Make my head a fountain of tears to quench that 
brand my RDI have kindled towards the destruction 
of this flourishing kingdom. Bless this kingdom, 
(> God; establish it in piety, honour, peace aud 
plenty. Forgive all the crying sins, and remove all 
thy judgment! far from her. Bless, bless her Go- 
vt Tinir, thy servant, our dread sovereign. Kndue 
DM Mill with all religious, civil, and princely virtues. 

Preserve his royal person in health, safety and pros- 
'2 I 2 



118 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS." 

His Prayer. 

perity ; prolong his days in honour, peace, or victory, 
and crown his death with everlasting glory. Bless 
him in his royal consort; unite their hearts in love 
and true religion. Bless him in his princely issue; 
season their youth with the fear of thy name. Di- 
rect thy church in doctrine and in discipline; and 
let her enemies be converted, or confounded. Purge 
her of all superstition and heresy; and root out from 
her whatsoever thy hand hath not planted. Bless 
the nobility of this land; endue their hearts with 
truth, loyalty, and true policy, Bless the tribe of 
Lew with piety, learning, and humility. Bless the 
magistrates of this kingdom ; give them religious and 
upright hearts, hating coveteousness. Bless the 
gentry with sincerity, charity, and good conscience. 
Bless the commonalty with loyal hearts, painful 
hands, and plentiful increase. Bless the two great 
seminaries of this kingdom ; make them fruitful nur- 
series both to the church and common-wealth. Bless 
air thy saints every where, especially those that 
stood in the gap betwixt this kingdom and thy judg- 
ments ; that being all members of that body whereof 
thou, Christ, art head, we may all join in humiliation 
for our sins, and be made partakers of thy glory iu 
the kiugdom of glory hereafter. 



Rs AND BXPA'ABAS. 119 



: elicity. 



The j>n sumptuous mau's/tiiciti/. 
Tell haul inr babes of bugbears, to fright them 
into quietness 1 ; or terrify youth with old wires' fables, 
»<> keep tfa ir wild aflections in awe: such toys may 
work upon their timorous apprehensions, when whole- 
some precepts fail, and find no audience in their 
youthful ears. Tell not me of hell, devils, or dam- 
ned souls, to enforce me from those pleasures which 
lhe\ nick-name sin. What tell ye meof law? my 
soul is sensible of evangelical precepts without the 
in < dless and uncorrected thunder of the killing let- 
ter, or the terrible pcriphrase of some roaring Boa- 
nerges, the tedionsness < I whose language still de- 
termines, in damnation; wherein I apprehend («od 
f.r inoie merciful than his ministers. 'Tis true, I 
bate sot led my life according to the pharisaical 
xpiare of their opinions, neither ha\e I found judg- 
ments according t<» tin ir prophecies ; whereby I 
must conclude that God is wonderfully merciful, or 
they wonderfully mistaken. How often ha\e they 
thundered torment against m\ voluptuous life? and 
\<tl feel no pain. I low bittei ly have they threat- 
ened shame against t he \ aunts of m v \ aiu gfory ? yet 

find I honour. 1 1 < • w fiercely have they preached 
destruction against my orotlij ? and yet I live. 
\\ hat plagues against mj - w j . i not infected. 

What diseases against my drunkenness? and yet 
sound. What danger against procrastination? yet 



120 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The presumptuous Man's Felicity. — His Anathemas. 

how often hath God been found upon the death-bed? 
What damnation to hypocrites? yet who more safe ? 
What stripes to the ignorant ? yet who more scot- 
free? What poverty to the slothful ? yet themselves 
prosper. What falls to the proud ? yet stand they 
surest. What curses to the covetous ? yet who rich- 
er? What judgments to the lascivious? yet who more 
pleasure? What vengeance to the profane, the cen- 
sorious, the revengeful? yet none live more un- 
scourged. Who deeper branded than the liar? yet 
who more favoured ? Who more threatened than the 
presumptuous ? yet who less punished ? Thus are 
we fooled and kept in awe with the strict fancies of 
those pulpit men, whose opinions have no ground 
but what they gain from popularity : thus are we 
frighted from the liberty of nature by the political 
chimeras of religion; whereby we are necessitated 
to the observing of those laws, whereof we find a 
greater necessity of breaking. 

His anathemas. 
But stay, my soul, there is a voice that darts into 
my troubled thoughts, which saith, 
deut. xxix. 
"Because thou hast not kept my laws, all the 
curses in this book shall overtake thee, till thou be 
destroyed." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 1*1 

His Proofs. 

His proofs. 
deut. xxix. 27. 
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against 
the land, to bring upon it all the curses that are 
written in this book. 

2 chron. xxxiv. 24. 
"Thus saith the Lord, Behold 1 will bring evil 
upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, 
even all the curses that are written in the book." 
deut. xxviii. 15. 
•f But if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of 
the Lord thy God, to observe and do all his com- 
mandments and his statutes which 1 command thee 
this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and 
overtake thee." 



HEKNARD. 

4 ' It is certain thou must die, and uncertain when, 
how, or where: weipg death is always at thy heels, 
thou must, (it* thou be wise; always be ready to die. " 

1 1) I M . 

" To eoiumit a sili, is an human frailty: to per- 
sist in it, 18 a (kulisli obstinacy.'' 

IDEM. 

"There are some who hope in the Lord, but y< I 
iu vaiu ; be< ause they only smooth and flatter them- 



122 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 

selves that God is merciful, but repent not of their 
sin: such confidence is vain and foolish, and leads 
to destruction." 

His soliloquy. 
Presumption is a sin, whereby we depend upon 
God's mercies, without any warrant from Gods 
word. It is as grept a sin, O my soul, to hope for 
God's mercy without repentance, as to distrust 
God's mercy upon repentance. In the first thou 
wrongest his justice; in the last, his mercy. O my 
presumptuous soul, let not thy prosperity in sinning 
encourage thee to sin ; lest climbing without warrant 
into his mercy, thou fall without mercy into his- 
judgment. Be not deceived ; a long peace makes a 
bloody war, and the abuse of continued mercies 
makes a sharp judgment. Patience, when slighted, 
turns to fury, but ill requited, starts to vengeance. 
Think not that thy unpunished sin is hidden from 
the eye of heaven, or that God's judgments will de- 
lay for ever. The stalled ox that wallows in his 
plenty, and waxes wanton with ease, is not far from 
slaughter. The Ephah, O my desperate soul, is 
long a filling, but once being full, the leaden cover 
must go on, and then it hurries on the wings of the 
wind. Advise thee then, and whilst the lamp of 
thy prosperity lasts, provide thee for the evil day, 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 123 

Hi* P river. 

which being come, repeutance will be out of date, 
and all thy prayers will find no ear. 

TEKTUL. 

"A christian hath no morrow, that is, should put 
off no duty, until the morrow." 

His prayer. 
Gracious God, whose mercy is unsearchable, and 
whose goodness is unspeakable, I the unthankful 
object of thy continued favours, and therefore the 
miserable subject of thy continual wrath, humbly 
preseut my self-made misery before thy sacred Ma- 
f * - 1 > . Lord, when J look upon the horridness of 
my sin, shame strikes me dumb ; but when I turn 
mine eye upon the infmiteness of thy mercy, I am 
emboldened to pour forth my soul before thee: as in 
the on.- finding matter for confusion, so in the other 
arjruiiM nts for compassion. Lord, I have siuned 
grievously, but my Saviour hath satisfied abundant- 
ly; I have trespassed continually, but he hath suf- 
fered once for all. Thou hast numbered my trans- 
Mh by the hairs of my head, but his mercies 
are innumerable like the stars of the sky : my sins 
,<■ like the mountains of the earth, but 
his mercy i> ejreuter than the heavens. O if his 
mercy were not greater than my sins, my sins were 
unpardonable : for Ins therefore and thy mercies' 
sake cover my sius, aud pardon my transgressions. 
2 K 



124 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

Make my head a fountain of tears, and accept my 
contrition, O thou well-spring of all mercy. Strength- 
en my resolution, that for the time to come I may 
detest all sin. Encrease a holy anger in me, that I 
may revenge myself upon myself, for displeasing so 
gracious a Father. Fill my heart with a fear of thy 
judgments, and sweeten my thoughts with the medi- 
tation of thy mercies. Go forwards, O my God, 
and perfect thy own work in me, and take the glory 
of thy own free goodness : furnish my mouth with 
the praises of thy name, and replenish my tongue 
with continual thanksgiving. Thou hast promised 
pardon to those that repent : behold I repent: Lord, 
quicken rny repentance. Thou mightest have made 
me a terrible example of thy justice, and struck me 
into hell in the height of my presumption; but thou 
hast made me capable of thy mercies, and an object 
of thy commiseration : for thou art a gracious God, 
long suffering, and slow to ajiger; thy name is won- 
derful, and thy mercies incomprehensible. Thou 
art only worthy to be praised. Let all the people 
praise thee, O God, O let all the people praise thee. 
Let angels and archangels praise Ujee; let the con- 
gregations of saints praise thee ; let thy works praise 
thee; let every thing that breathes praise thee for 
ever and for ever. Amen. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 125 

His Prayer. 
PSAL. 1. 21. 

" These things hast thou done and I keep silence,, 
thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as 
thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in 
order before thine eyes." 



THE END OF THE FIRST PART. 



BARNABAS, 



OR, 






THE COMPASSIONATE SAMARITAN, 

POURING OIL INTO 

WOUNDED SPIRITS. 



Zfy fecconti part. 






JUDGMENT AND MERCY 

FOR AFFLICTED SOULS. 



PART Ij 



The weary man 6 burden. 



GOD, who iu himself is the fulness and perfection 
of all glory, who needed no tongue to praise it, no 
pen to express it, no work to magnify it, created a 
world fur his own pleasure, furnished it of his own 
guudiH vs, made man out of his own mere motion, 
appointed him his lieutenant here upon earth, and 
as a witness and an instrument of his glory, the sole 
end of his creation: but man grew proud, trangres- 
sed against his first commandment, and fell, and by 
his fall, destroyed his then unborn posterity. Sin 
entered the world, and deatli by sin: and I poor- 
miserable creature, boru in sin, have turned his glo- 
ry to dishonour, my due obedience to rebellion, and 
my happiness into eternal death. How intolerable 
i- l!i<- burdt n of this sin ! How insufferable is the 
weight of ni) offences * If I but think of heaven, it 



130 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Rest. 

clogs my contemplations. If I but pray to heaven, 
it presses down my devotion. I have lost the favour 
of my God, I have frustrated the end of my creation, 
I have broke the peace of my conscience, I have 
dipt the wings of my faith, I have dashed the com- 
fort of my hopes. Good angels have forsaken me, 
my conscience hath accused me, God's prophets 
have condemned me, and hell gapes for me. What 
shall I do ? Or whither shall I fly ? Shall I seek to 
angels ? Alas, I have turned them away displeased : 
They will not hear me, or if they would, they cannot 
help me. Shall I fly to my own conscience? alas, 
that will fly On me. Shall I trust on my own me- 
rits? alas, they are false lights, and will light me to 
my own ruin. Or shall I take the wings of the 
morning, and fly to the utmost parts of the earth ? 
alas, my sins will follow me; my sins will haunt me, 
wheresoever I go. Poor miserable man that 1 am, 
who shall deliver me from this burden ? Poor 
miserable man that I am, who shall release me 
from this bondage? Is there no comfort for a 
•poor distressed soul ? Is there no ease for a poor 
disconsolate sinner ? Is there no balsam for a wound- 
ed heart? no refuge for a guilty penitent? 

His rest. 
O my soul, why art thou so sad ? and why is thy 
spirit so disquieted within thee? Put thy trust in 
God, who hath said, 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 131 



His Proofs 



Matt. xi. *J8. 
" Come unto me all you that are heavy laden, and 
1 will give you rest." 

His proofs. 

Jer. vi. (J. 

" Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the old ways 

and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good 

way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for 

your souls." 

Is\. li. 11. 
" The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and 
come with singing unto Sion, and everlasting joys 
shall be* upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness 
and joy : and sorrow and mourning shall ily 
away." 

.Matt. xi. 2.0. 
Take my Jote it pon you, and learn of me ; foVl 
am meek and lowly in In-art: and ye shall ha\e rest 
nnto your souls." 



II1KKON. IS IIM-H". 

Wii llnm (',.;, t pnvt.ru ? Chrifet calls the poor 

man Messed : art thou afraid of lahour r> pains are 

llie parents of a crONfti : art tliou hnn-ry 2 faith fears 

no famine. God, the Generalissimo of the world. 

No. I',. 3 L 



132 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS, 



His Soliloquy. 



with his militia of angels, beholds thy combat, and 
prepares for thy laborious victory a crown of ever- 
lasting rest." 

AUG. DE VIRGIN. 

" Sow thy heart with divers seeds, with fasting, 
prayer, reading, alms, that the end of thy labour may 
be the harvest of thy rest. 

His soliloquy. 
True, my soul, if thou shouldst only cast an eye 
upon the letter of the law, that letter would soon 
cast thee and condemn thee; or if thy only object 
were the base corruptious of thy sinful heart, there 
were sufficient cause to justify that condemnation; 
or hadst thou nothing else to trust to but thine own 
abilities, thy case were too too miserable for expres- 
sion; or shouldst thou seriously consider that glorious 
majesty thou hast offended, there were no hopes for 
consolation: but O my soul, there is a gospel to mi- 
tigate the rigour of that Letter; there is a chancery 
to moderate the severity of that law ; there is a Sa- 
viour to moderate betwixt that God and my offences. 
Art thou in bondage ? O my soul, here is freedom ; 
Art thou dejected ? here is comfort ; art thou pur- 
sued ? here is a refuge ; art thou overburtbened ? 
here is rest : art thou condemned ? here is a pardon. 
Appeal therefore from the throne of justice to the 
seat of mercy; from the justice of Jehovah to the 



BUANERGES AND BARNABAS. 133 



mercy of thy Jesos: deny thyself, and he will own 
thee; empty thyself, and be will fill thee: let not 
thy Bias affright thee, he hath satisfied : let not hell 
dismay thee, he hath suffered: let not the first death 
tremble thee, he hath sweetened it: let not the se- 
cond death terrify thee, he hath conquered it: fear 
not to come to him, for he calleth thee: fear not to 
pray to him, for he will hear thee. 
His prayer. 
O God, whose perfect glory needed not the help 
of man, yet modest him for thy glory, wherein con- 
sisted his » ternal happiness ; I, a poor son of Adam, 
fallen by his sin, and wallowing in my own corrup- 
lie prostrate here before the foot-stool of thy 
mercy-scat, acknowledging my grievous sins, and 
humid v begging pardon for my manifold transgres- 
llow infinite is thy mercy, <) God, that hast 
not spared thy only Sou, but made his precious 
blood a ransom to redeem nit from the jaw s of death! 

I bare made myself a great delinquent, and thou 

bast appointed him my gracious advocate: I have 
made m\ self a sinner, and be hath giv%B him-elf to 
be my SSri Oar. To thee, therefore, <>iu\ bl> ■ 
testis, whose death is in\ deliverance, Illy: before 
thee who art more merciful than I am miserable 1 
fall. Thy mercies have invited me, thy merits have 
emboldened me Jo present ni\ gTOaOS before ihy ui:i- 
irs, and to lav mv burthen \\\»)\\ ihv dying 
' 3 L 2 



131 BOANERGES AND BARNABASv 

His Prayer. 

shoulders. O Lamb of God which takest away the 
sins of the world, have mercy upon me. O Lamb 
of God that takest away the burthen of my sins 
have mercy upon me; and grant me thy rest. O 
thou that tookest my flesh upon thee, grant me thy 
spirit. Sanctify my thoughts: be merciful to ray 
sins ; be gracious unto my prayers. Let the inter- 
cession of thy merits restore me to the favour of my 
God. Let the freeness of thy mercy release me from 
the burthen of my conscience. Wean me from my- 
self: direct me in thy ways. Be thou my rest: be 
thou my refuge. Fix thou my wavering faith : re- 
cal my wandering hopes. Give thy angels charge 
over me, whom I have so often sent grieved away. 
Establish me with a free spirit, and restore me to the 
joy of thy salvation. Let that power that calls me, 
enable me to come ; and let my coining be rewarded 
in thy promise. Let thy word comfort me, let thy 
truth conduct me, and let thy spirit counsel me; 
that being relieved by the bounty of thy grace, re- 
leased from the burthen of my sins, and redeem- 
ed by the virtue of thy blood, I may come to thee 
with the confidence of a son, and be received of thee 
in the compassion of a father, and after this life of 
grace, live with thee in thy kingdom of glory. 
s. AUG. 
" Christ is the way, the truth, and the life: the 
way wherein thou shouldst go; the truth, whither 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 135 



Tlic Sinner's >nit( ni e. 



tliou wouldst arrive; the life, Which thou wouldst 
enjoy.'' 

BBBj ii. J8. 
" For in that he himself hath suffered, being temp- 
led, he is able to succour them that are tempted." 

The sinner's soilrnrc. 
O the miserable condition of mankind ! What 
loads of self-made misery are fallen upon the sons 
of men ! Man that had once a power not to fall, hath 
not now the will to stand; and being fallen by 
his ambitious will, hath lost the power to rise. He 
was created good ; but not content with such a 
goodness, gn w covetous to increase it bytheknow- 
kedgS of that which (being known) deprived him of 
that goodness. Evil he desired to know; and not 
knowing the misery of that knowledge, by that 
know ledge bec&me miserable. That God, the sweet- 
ness of whose presence was the perfection of man's 

felicky, he rebel liously declined ; and being the fa- 

fOarite of heaven, made himself a lire-brand of hell: 

and 1, bis miserable Child) am made more miserable 
by my own offences. What merry can I expect 

from this just God, whose jusliee I have so oft of- 
fended } \\ hat judgment ma\ I now suspect from 

that merciful God, whose mere] 1 bate so oft abu- 

ls not the practice <>!' my life, sin ? Are not 
tin- wages of my sin, death? If one sin destroyed a 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Sanctuary. 



world of men, shall not a world of sins destroy one 
man? I that have not feared to provoke his justice, 
am now afraid to think him just. I that have slight- 
ed his mercy, have now no warrant to hope him mer- 
ciful. He that made the eye, can he choose but 
see ? He that sees all things, beholds he not my sin? 
Can he behold my sin, and not punish ? Can he 
punish, and 1 not be confounded ? What am I, poor 
dust and ashes, to stand before so great an enemy? 
Did he not create me for his service, and shall not 
his hand destroy me for ray rebellion ? What advo- 
cate shall plead my cause ? What sanctuary shall 
secure me? Shall that blood save me which I have 
spilt? Will that judge quit me which I have cruci- 
fied ? Shall I present my prayers to heaven ? Alas ! 
my very prayers will return like thunder-bolts upon 
my head. Shall I lay my sins before the eye of 
heaven? Ah me! I dare not lest they draw down 
vengeance into my bosom. 

His sanctuary. 
Be not afraid, my soul, God's mercy far transcends 
thy misery. Cheer up; where sin abounds there 
grace abounds much more. O now, my soul, de- 
part in peace, for thine eyes shall see thy salvation. 
Open thine ears and hear what the spirit saith. 
john xi. 26. 
" He that believeth in me shall never die." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 137 

H'u Proof*. 

II is proofs. 
ROM. i. 17. 
"The just shall live by faith," 
john iji. 16. 
" God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall 
not perish, but have everlasting life." 
acts xvi. 31. 
" Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be 
>aw (I, and thy houshold." 

JOHN V. 24. 

"Verily, verily. I say unto you, he that heareth 
my word, and believeth on hiui that sent me, hath 
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna- 
tion, but iff passed from death unto life." 



( n II \ SUM. 

44 The faith of the true eatholie religion is the light 

(if lie- soul, and the u ;te of life, and the foundation 
mal happiness.' 

■-.ion. 
" .Man enjoys all thinga in himself that enjoys 
himself; but In- only enjovs himself that enjovs his 
<■<><!; .iiul |ic alone enjoys his God that believes in 
him. ' 



138 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 
AUGUST. 

11 No greater treasure than the true catholic faith: 
it gives to the blind light, to the sick health, to sin- 
ners repentance, to the penitent salvation." 

His soliloquy. 
But is thy misery, O my soul, greater than, hi* 
mercy? 'Tis true, the practice of thy life is sin, but 
the practice of his mercy is pardon : the wages of 
thy sin is death, but the merits of his death is life. 
Art thou afraid to think the God of vengeance just? 
and well thou mayst, if thou deny the God of mer- 
cy to be merciful. Old Adam hath run thee in debt, 
and young Adam hath paid the scores, and wilt thou 
not acknowledge it? O my distrustful soul, darken 
not the sun-shine of his power with the clouds of 
thy infidelity; Eclipse not the illustrious body of his 
mercy with the interposition of thy despair. Think 
not thy great Creator is thine enemy, when thy gra- 
cious Redeemer is thy friend. Hast thou sinned 
against thy creation ? thou art absolved by thy re- 
demption. Art thou penitent for thy rebellion ? thy 
peace is made by thy Redeemer. But thou hast 
shed thy Saviour's blood : take comfort, that very 
blood which thou hast spilt will save thee. But 
thou hast crucified the Lord of glory : the Lord of 
glory, whom thou hast crucified, hath crucified thy 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 188 






sins. Fear not then, my soul, to ily to such a 
friend, whose arms are open to embrace thee, whose 
eyes are open to behold thee, whose lips are open 
to plead for thee, whose wounds are open to ea&e, 

thy pains, whose ears are open to hear thy prayer*; 

His prayer. 
O God, that madest all things to serve man, that 
man might the more cheerfully serve thee, that gavest 
him power t<» continue in that perfect slate thou 
roademt him, and a will to use that power to thy 
glory and his own comfort; I, the unhappy son of my 
unhappy parents, made more unhappy by my own 
do here, in all humility and contri- 
tion, acknowledge myself the, miserable* subject of 
ihi uUt r wrath. Lord, I have lost the power to do 
what thpu commandeer, and am only left to suffer 
what thy displeasure shall lay upon: me. But yet, 
( > ( iojl, thy inercj i^ no less infinite than thy justice, 
■oil far more infinite than ray Bins; and thou hast 
promised life to all 1m lievers. Give, therefore, dust 
and n»hes leave, < > Lord, to claim this gracious pro- 
mite; and what thou hast commanded to he done, 

< I give me power to do. Ent< r not into judgment 
with thy servant, t> Lord, for in thy sight shall no 
flesh be justified. Look not upon thy servant, () 
God, hut through the blood <d thy Son; and let the 
merits of a Saviour outcry the demerits of a sinner. 
Remember not what I. a sinner, have done, but call 
3 m 



140 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The poor Man's Want. 



to thy remembrance what he, my Saviour, hath suf- 
fered. O let his bloody sweat anoint my bleeding- 
wounds, and accept his death as the full wages of 
my offences. Lord, I am sick, I fly to him as my 
Physician ; I am a trespasser, 1 fly to him my Ad- 
vocate; 1 am a suiter, I fly to him my Mediator; I 
am a delinquent, I fly to him my Sanctuary ; I am a 
sinner, I fly to him my Saviour. Let the shamefulnesb 
of his death expiate the sinfulness of my life; and let 
the willingness of his obedience satisfy for the wil- 
fulness of my rebellion. Let my sins, that cry loud- 
er than the sins of Cain, be washed in his blood, 
which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. 
Remember thy promises to those that believe. 
Lord, I believe ; Lord, help my unbelief. Quick- 
en my soul with faith, inflame my affections 
with love, and fill my mouth with prayers: that 
knowing him, 1 may believe in him ; and believing 
in him, I may love him : and loving him, I may 
praise him with hosannahs here in the church mili- 
tant, and hallelujahs hereafter in the church trium- 
phant. 

BOETH. 

" There lies on us a great necessity of doing well, 
since we do all things under the eyes of that Judge 
that sees all." 

The poor man's ivant. 
GOD, that created all things for man's use, 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 141 

The poor Man's Want. 

created man for his service, who, by the accommo- 
dation of all the creatures, might be enabled the bet- 
ter to do service to his Creator. But when the 
proud disloyalty of man rebelled, the creature, that 
knew not how to serve man on such conditions, re- 
turned to his first Creator, to be a-new disposed of 
by him according to his pleasure. How dare I then 
presume to expect from his hands what I have dis- 
inherited myself of by my rebellion ? Or how cau I, 
a dog, claim any interest in the children's bread? 
How dare I, a sinner, intrude into the portion of 
the righteous? And if the righteous only shall in- 
herit the land, in what quarter lies mine inheritance? 
If blessings be the proper dues of sons, what is due 
to me the greatest of all sinners? I am no son, and 
therefore no heir; insomuch, that what I possess I 
enjoy not by right, but usurpation. What have I 
that I can call mine own ? Or wherein can my title 
I a right? 1 am w niched, for I am a sinner: I 
am poor, for I want tin- thing I have; I am blind, 
for I cannot Bee my wants; I am naked, for lean- 
not hide my shame. I can challenge nothing but 
my tin, my sorrow, my punishment, my shame. 
1 can see nothing but that I am wrctehed, and poor, 
and blind, and naked. I cau expect nothing but 

what I ft ret must receive, J can receive nothing but 
what most in- t be given. Nothing can be given but 
by prayer. Prayet hath no virtue but my faith ; and 

:\ m -2 



142 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Supply. — His Proof?. 

whatsoever is not of faith is sin. How then shall I 
supply this emptiness ? By what means shall I re- 
lieve my. wants? By what art shall I clear this blind- 
ness? What clothes shall hide my nakedness? If I 
pray for what I want, I fear I shall not want what I 
deserve. I am a prodigal, and have spent my talent; 
1 have divorced my presence from my angry father; 
I am not worthy to be called his son, and he too 
worthy to be called my father; I have forsaken my 
God, and his blessings have forsaken me ; I, that 
have banished myself from my father's bounteous 
table, am now marshalled among swine. 

His supply. 
Return, return thee, O my soul, into thy father's 
arms ; confess thy wants, and his mercy will relieve 
thee, who saith, 

john xvi. 23. 
" Whatsoever ye shall ask my Father in my name, 
he shall give it unto you." 

His proofs. 

1 JOHN v. 14, 15. 

" And this is the confidence we have in him : if we 
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. 
If we know he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we 
know we have the petitions we desire of him." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 143 



liloqny. 



john xiv. 13, 14. 
'• Whatsoever ye ask in my name that will I do, 
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye 
ask any thing in my name, I will do it.*' 
HAT. vii. 7. 
"Ask, and it shall In- given you; seek, and you 
shall find ; knock, and it shall he opened unto you." 
fsal. xxi. 4. 
"lie asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, 
even length of days for ever and ever." 

I8IDOR. 

" He that obeys not the law of God, obtains not 
the thing he desires of God; but if we faithfully per- 
form what he commands, we shall doubtless receive 
what we desire.' 1 

AMBR. 

44 We have all things in Christ, and Christ is all 
things in 08. If wear** sick, he is a physcian ; if 
ir death, he is life; if in darkness, he is light* 
it in waul, he i> abundance ; if hungry, he is food ; 
if thirsty, he is drink; if miserable, he is mercy; if 
covetous of heaven, he is the way." 

Jlis soh/ixjifi/. 

If thy own righteousness only interest thee iu 

heaw ii, or hadst thou no better title to the blessing 

of earth than from thyself, how \ain were tin: merits 

avion r, and bOW poor were the estate of a sin- 



144 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



Hi? Prayer. 



ner? But having no righteousness but in him, thou 
hast no interest in any blessing but by him. Art 
thou poor in estate, O my soul? find him, and thou 
art rich. Art thou wretched ? seek him, and thou 
hast happiness. Blinded with error? seek him, and 
thou art enlightened with truth. .Naked ? find him, 
and thou shalt be clothed with robes. Challenge 
nothing but thy sin, and thou shalt enjoi all things 
by thy repentance. Be sensible of t! | and 

thou art capable of his mercy. Hasi s wasted 

thy portion with the prodigal ? return t thy father, 
like the prodigal. Acknowledge thy owj. v. n worthi- 
ness, and thy father's indulgence will embrace thee. 
Let not the sins of thy own wretchedness discourage 
thee, nor the fear of his displeasure dishearten thee. 
Can an earthly mother forget her child ? and canst 
thou distrust the mercies of a heavenly father? Go 
then, my soul, fly into his bosom by contrition, 
groan thy sorrows in his ear by penitent confession. 
He that hath called thee, will accept thee: he that 
hath commanded thee to pray, will hear thy prayer. 

His prayer. 
O God, that art the creator and giver of all good 
things, by which we are either made the more ser- 
viceable to thee, or the more inexcusable in neglect- 
ing thy service; I, a poor off-cast among the sons of 
Adam, who, like the prodigal, have mispent thy pre- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 145 

Hi» l'ra\tr. 

cious blessing, do liere return from husks and harlots, 
and the lewd concupiscence of my affections, to thee 
my gracious God, to thee, O my offended Father. 
I have usurped thy favours, intruded into thy bles- 
sings and like a dog devoured the children's bread. 
O God, my wants are great; nay, what I have, I 
want, in wanting thee, that art all goodness. AH 
in All. But yet thy gracious promise hath invited 
me to call on thee in my necessities. Be it therefore, 
O God, according to thy word. Thy word is truth; 
thy truth is everlasting. Lord, as thou hast made 
me sensible of my wants, so make me capable of thy 
relief. Remove my wretchedness by thy mercy; 
relieve my poverty by thy all-sufficient grace; re- 
i my blindness by thy light; cover my naked- 
witli thy robe. Be thou my portion, O God, 
and let thy laws be mine inheritance. Hear the 
needy when be calls upon thee, and help the poor 
that bath DO helper. Thou art my hope, < > God, thou 
art my trust even from my mother's womb. .Make me 

sufficient for thy grace, and thy grace shall be suffi- 
cient for me. Provoke in my soul a thirst after righte- 
OBWieet, that 1 may take dad drink the cup of thy 

sal\ati"n. Teach ineto ask according lo thy pleasure, 
and grant my requests according to thy promise. 

Strength > faith in all my supplications, and 

|ive me patience to expect thy leisure. What I pos- 
sess, O, God, lei me enjoy in thee, and tine in it. 



146 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The forgetful Man's Complaint. 

Relieve my necessities according to thy will, and 
let thy pleasure limit my desires. In my prosperity 
let me not forget thee, and in my adversity let me 
not forsake thee. With Jacob's wealth, Lord give 
me Jacob's blessing; with Lazarus's want, O give 
me Lazarus's reward. Both in want and wealth 
give me a contented mind : both in prosperity and 
adversity give me a thankful heart. Lord, hear my 
prayer for thy mercies' sake, for my miseries' sake, 
for thy promise sake, for my Jesus sake, to whom 
be glory and praise for ever and ever. 

s. AUGUST. 

"The gold cannot do to thee the office of silver, 
thy mine cannot be thy bread, nor the light cool thy 
thirst; but thy God can be all things to thee." 
matt. vi. 33. 

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righte- 
ousness, and all these things shall be added unto 
you." 

The forgetful mans complaint. 
We are God's husbandry: our hearts are the soil, 
whereof some is more fruitful, some more barren, 
and both unprofitable; his holy word is the seed, 
which sometimes falls upon a leau ground, sometimes 
upon a stony, sometimes upon a good ground ; the 
cares of the world are like thorns that spring up and. 
choke it; persecutions, like a sultry summer, scorch 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 147 



Tin fofrgt ti 1 Man '$ ( omplaiat. 



it; the lusts of the desh, like the fowls of the air, 
which wait upon the plough, and licensed by ihe 
prince of the air, devour it. How many Jisadvan- 
9, O God, attend upon thy husbandry? how 
many losses lessen thy increase? how many acci- 
dents make thy poil unfruitful, and thy harvest easy 
and unprofitable? To what purpose do I till my 
land ? To "hat advantage do I stir my fallows? I 
have no sooner sowed my willing; ground, but the 
seed is stolen away. I bring into the sanctuary a 
prepared heart ; ! hear glad tidings with a cheerful 
ear, and then repose them in a joyful breast: but 
when I look into my hopeful magazine, behold there 
is ii -thing there but emptiness and vanity. The joys 
of what I gained were swallowed with the grief of 
what I lost. No sooner had I set my portals open 
to let in the king of Glory, but lo, the slightness 
of my entertainment turned him out again. I hid 
D] Saviour it) the sepulchre of my soul, and they 
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where 
they have laid him : my beloved withdrew himself, 
and is gone, and 1 have sought him, but I could 

not fiud him. O treacherous memory I how hast 

thou In -trayed in\ re.st J how hast thou lost the bal- 
sam of thy soul ? Mow art thou heedless in preserving 
what my poor soul was so earnest in pursuing? 

How canst thou choose but feel the stroke of death, 

having thus losl the word of life? What shall now 

a m 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Consolation. — His Proofs. 



comfort thee in thy afflictions? O what shall 
strengthen thee in thy temptations? or what shall 
wind up the plummets of thy soul in desperation ? 

His consolation. 
Cheer up, my soul : the pearl which thou hast 
lost is hidden in thy field, and time shall bring it 
forth ; when sharp afflictions shall plough up the 
fallows of thy heart, this pearl shall then appear and 
comfort thee. Turn and read what the Spirit saith, 
john xiv. 26. • 
"The Holy Spirit shall bring to your remem- 
brance whatsoever I have said unto you." 

His proofs. 

JOHN XV. 26. 

" When the Comforter shall come, whom I will 
.send from the Father, even the spirit of truth which 
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." 
1 john ii. 27. 

"The anointing which ye have received of him 
abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach 
you ; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all 
things, and is truth, and is no lie: and even as it 
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 149 



His Soliloquy. 



GREG. IN MORAL. 

" After what manner works the Holy Spirit in us? 
it instructs, it moves it admonishes; it instructs the 
reason, it moves the will, it admonishes the memory." 

BEDE. 

"There is no dulness where the Holy Spirit is 
teacher, no furgetfulness where the Holy Spirit is 
remembrancer. " 

GREG. 

•■ The Holy Spirit is an antidote against seven 
poisons : it is wisdom against folly, quickness of 
apprehension against dulness, faithfulness of memory 
against furgetfulness, fortitude against fear, know- 
ledge against ignorance, piety against profaneness, 
humility against pride.' 1 

His soliloquy t 

Tin strongest city (when force without and 
treachery within assails it must yield; and canst 
thou expect, O my soul, to be impregnable? Hast 
thou the devil and the world without thee, and so 
many regiments of lusts within thee, yet thinkest 
thou to sustain no loss? Art thou so unexperienced 
in the ( 'hri^tiau war, to think thy magazine sale up- 
on so strong a siege? Tboa stores! thy heart with 
plenty of the bread of life, and caasf thou hope to 

lc£t p it from the ravenOUS hand of thy own connp- 

tiops? Thou sowest thv -round with liberal *-wd. 

3 N 2 



150 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

■ ' ' - . i — 

His Prayer. 

and thinkest thou that the fowls of the air (being 
Lucifer's own regiment) will not rob thee of a share? 
Thou fiilest thy treasury with sums of wealth, and 
canst thou hope the troops within thee will not plun- 
der thee? Vex not thyself, my soul; what is taken 
from thee with too strong an arm, shall be no loss 
to thee. Consent not, but continue loyal, and thy 
compulsions shall never wrong thee. If thy domes- 
tic rebels sequester thy whole estate, thy loyalty 
shall preserve thee. Cheer thee, O then, my soul: 
the Comforter will come, and then thy faith shall be 
repaid, thy wrongs shall be repaired; till then, 
thy sufferings shall be remembered, and then thy pe- 
titions shall be regarded. 

His prayer. 
O God, without whose special blessing and suc- 
cess Paul plants in vain, and Apollo waters to no 
purpose, that with the influence of thy Holy Spirit 
enrichest all those hearts from whom thy patience 
shall expect increase ; I, the worst piece of all thy 
husbandry, do here acknowledge and confess mine 
own barrenness, as most unworthy of thy pains. 
Lord, thou hast often ploughed my heart with trials 
and afflictions, manured it with the presence of thy 
heavenly grace, and sowed it with thy pure seed ; 
yet such is the base condition of my unfruitful heart, 
that either the coldness of the soil starves it, or the 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 151 

His Prayer. 

- of the world choke it,- or the malice of the 
devil robs it, that it cannot bring forth increase 
worthy of thy pains or expectation. Lord, I am 
thy husbandry, continue thy careful hand upon me, 
and supply my weakness with thy strength, and 
make me fruitful fur thy u r lory. Am\, thou, O God, 
that hast given thy word for a lam}) unto my feet, 
and a light unto my paths, so open mine eyes, that 
I may behold the frailly of my flesh; so clear my 
si- ht, that I may avoid the vanities of the world and 
the snares of satan. Be thou my screen to preserve 
this lamp: be thou my lantern to protect this light, 
that the corruptions of my flesh may not obscure it, 
that the vanities of the world may not eclipse it, that 
the suggestions of satan may not consume it. Un- 
lock mine ears, that I may hear what thou com- 
manded. Lock thou my memory, that I may re- 
tain what I hear. Enlarge m\ heart, that I may 
practise what I retain: and open thou my lips, that 
I may praise thee in my practice. Consider, () 

God, how I love thy precepts, and quicken me ac- 
cording to thy loving kindness. Hide thy word in 
my heart, that m\ ways may be directed to keep thy 
statutes. Remember thy word to thy servant, upon 
which thou hast caused me to hope. Behold I am 
c, be thou my helper: behold I and comfortless, 
be thou m\ comforter. Restrain his malice that 
steals thy word from out thy ground, that when the 



152 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

- — — .. . . . — -* 

The Widow's Distress. 

time cometh, thy harvest may be fruitful, and I, thy 
servant, being found faithful, may enter into my mas- 
ter's joy, and be received into eternal glory. 
s. HIERON. 
" We are all careful about small matters, aud neg- 
ligent in the greatest; of which this is the reason, 
We know not where true felicity is.'' 

The widow's distress. 
SO vain, so momentary are the pleasures of this 
world, so transitory is the happiness of mankind, 
that what with the expectations that go before it, 
the cares that go with it, and the griefs that follow 
it, we are not more unhappy in the wanting it, than 
miserable in the enjoying it. The greatest of all 
worldly joys, are but bubbles full of air, that break 
with the fulness of their own vanity : and, but at best, 
like Jonah's gourd, which please us while they last, 
and vex us in the loss. Past and future happiness 
are the miseries of the time present; and present 
happiness is but the passage to approaching misery; 
which being transitory, and meeting with a transitory 
possessor, perish in the very using. What was 
mine yesterday in the blessedness of a full fruition, to- 
day hath nothing left of it, but a sad remembrance, it 
was mine. The more I call to mind the joys I had, 
the more sensible I am of the misery I have. My 
sun is set, my glory is darkened, and not one star 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 153 

Her Relief. 

appears in the firmament of my little world. He, 
from whose loins I came, is taken from me: he, to 
whose bosom I returned, is taken from me. Mv 
blessing in the one, my comforts in the other, are 
taken from me: and what is reft to me but a poor 
third part of myself to bewail the loss of the other 
two. 1 that was owned by the tender name of a 
child, am now known by the off-cast title of an or- 
phan. I that was respected by the honourable title 
of a wife, am now rejected by the despicable name 
of a widow . I that flourished like a fruitful vine 
upon tfie house top, am now neglected and trodden 
under foot. He that like a strong watl supported 
my tender branches, is fallen, and left my clusters to 
the spoil of ravenous swine*. The spring-tides of my 
plenty are spent, and I am gravelled on the low ebbs 
of all wants. The sonnets of raj mirth are turned 
to elegies of mourning. My glory is put out, and 
my honour grovels in the dust. 1 call to u>\ friends, 
and the) neglect me : I spread forth my hands, and 
there is none to help me. My beauty is departed 
from me, and all my joys are swallowed Up. 

I In n In l\ 

But stay, mj bouI, plunge not too far: shall not 
take that gave ? cannot he that took restore? 
The Lord is thy portion, who saith, 



154 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



Her Proofs. 



Psa. lxviii. 5. 
I will be an husband to the widow, and a Father 
to the fatherless. 

Her proofs. 
Exod. xxii. 22, 23, 24. 
" YE shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless 
child. 

" If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at 
all unto me, I will surely hear their cry. 

" And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you, 
with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, 
and your children fatherless." 
Mal. iii. 5. 
" I will be a swift witness against those that op- 
press the widow and the fatherless." 
James i. 27. 
" Pure religion and undefiled before God and the 
Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and the widow 
in their affliction." 



august. 
" God is all things to thee. Art thou hungry ? 
he is bread : art thou thirsty ? he is water: art thou 
in darkness ? he is light : art thou naked ? he is a 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 15-i 



Hit Soliloquy.— Her Prayer. 



robe of eternity : art thou a widow ? he is thy hus- 
band : art thou an orphan ? he is thy father." 
Her soliloquy. 
How hath the sun-shine of truth discovered what 
appeared not by the candle-light of nature ! How 
many atoms in thy soul hath this ligbt descried, 
which in thy natural twilight were not visible! Ex- 
cessive sadness for so great a loss can want no argu- 
ments from flesh and blood, which arguments can 
want no weight, if weighed in the partial balance of 
nature. A husband is thyself divided ; thy chil- 
dren thyself multiplied: for whom (when snatched 
away) God allows some grains to thy affections ; but 
•when they exceed the allowance, they will not pass 
in Heaven's account, but must be coined again. 
Couldst thou so often offend thy God without a tear? 
and cannot he, my soul, displease thee once without 
so many ? Doth the want of spiritual graces not 
trouble thee' and shall a temporal loss so much 
torment thee ? Is thy husband taken away, and art 
thou cast down? Hath thy God promised to be thy 
husband, and art thou not comforted ? True symp- 
toms of more flesh than spirit. Thy husband was 
the gift, thy God the giver; and wilt thou more dis- 
pri/r the giver than the gift ? lie wise, my soul; if 
thou hast lost a man, thou hast found a God : ha- 
ving, therefor*-, pel thy wings in nature's shower, go 
and dry tin in in the God of nature's sun-shine. 
Hi r j)i(iif<r. 

God, in the knowledge of whom is the per- 
3o 



156 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

Her Prayer. 

fection of all joj r , at whose right hand pleasures are 
evermore; that makesi the comforts of this life mo-' 
mentary, that we may not over-prize them, and yet 
hast made thera requisite, that we may not under- 
value them ; I, a late sharer in this worldly happi- 
ness, but a sad witness of its vanity, do here address 
myself to thee the only crown of all my joys, in 
whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of change. 
Lord, thou didst give me what my unthankfulness 
hath taken from me, but thou hast taken from me 
what thy goodness hath promised to supply. Thou 
hast given and thou hast taken, blessed be thy name 
for ever. Thou then, O God, who art not less able 
to perform than willing to promise, whose mercy is 
more ready to bestow than my misery is to beg, 
strengthen my faith, that I may believe thy promise; 
encourage my hopes, that I may expect thy per- 
formance; quicken my affections, that I may love 
the promiser. Be thou all in all to me, that am 
nothing at all without thee. Sweeten my misery 
with the sense of thy mercy, and lighten my dark- 
ness with the Sun of thy Glory. Seal in my heart 
the assurance of adoption, that I may with boldness 
call thee my Father. Sanctify my affections with 
the spirit of meekness, that my conversation may 
testify that I am thy child. Wean my heart from 
worldly sorrow, lest i mourn like them that have no 
hope. Be thou my bride-groom, and let our mar- 
riage-chamber be my heart. Own me as thy bride, 
and purify me with the odours of thy spirit. Pre- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 1»7 



Her Pra%tr. -Tlic ■fflietod Man's TroubU-. 



vent die with thy blessings ; protect me by thy grace*; 
preserve me fur thyself; prepare me lor thy king- 
dom. Be thou a father to bless me; be thou a hus- 
band to comfort me. h\ the midst of my want, be 
thou my plenty: iu the depth of my mourning, be 
thou my mirth. Raise my glory from the dust, and 
then my dust shall shew forth thy praise. Be thou 
a wall to support my vine, and let my branches twine 
about thee : let them flourish in the sun shine of thy 
grace, that they may bring forth fruit to the glory of 
thy name. 

S. BASIL. 

" Before we do any thing else, be we careful to 
< rate the first fruits of the day and the very be- 
ginnings of our holy thoughts unto the service of 
God.' 

77/r afflicted mant trouble. 

Which way soever, I turn mine eyes, I see nothing 
but spectacles of misery, and emblems of mortality. 
If 1 look up, there 1 behold an angry God, and I am 
troubled: look downwards, there I sec a prepared 
bell, and I am terrified, Look on my right hand, 
and there prosperity emboldens me to a secure pre- 
immption : look on my left hand, and there adversity 
enforces me \.>> a sad despair. Look about me, and 
thiir I find legions of temptations beleaguering me: 
look within me, and there I see a guilty 1 conscience 
ling me. In all which I perceive nothing but 
misery, nothing but man; and in that misery, that 

periphsase of man, man that is horn of a woman bath 

3 o 2 



158 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

i . ■ , ■ ■ . . „ .. 

The afflicted Man's Tronble. 

bat a short time to live, and is full of trouble. Were 
not man's time short, man were the miserablest of 
all creatures, audi the miserablest of all men. I am 
still haunted with three enemies, the world, the 
flesh, and the devil. The world troubles me with 
her cares ; the flesh troubles me with infirmities : 
the devil troubles me with temptations. If I am 
rich, I am troubled with fears, to lose ; if poor, I 
am troubled with cares, to get: if single, troubled 
to seek a wife ; if married, troubled to please a wife: 
if I have children, every child is a new trouble, if 
childless, I am as much troubled for an heir: if sick, 
troubled with distempers and drugs ; if sound, 
troubled with lust, or labour: if in my business, 
troubled with vexation; if in my devotion, troubled 
with distraction. Man that is born of a woman hath 
but a short time, and is full of trouble. Where 
shall I turn me to avoid this toil? What steps shall 
I tread to escape this trouble ? Shall I incline my 
heart to mirth? Mirth is but madness; therefore 
trouble. Shall I quicken my spirits with plenteous 
wine? In much wine is much distraction, therefore 
trouble. Or shall my wiser heart search out the 
bounds of knowledge? In much wisdom is much 
grief; and who encreaseth knowledge encreaseth 
trouble. Whom shall I call to aid ? To whom shall 
I address my sad complaints ? Call to my kindred, 
they disclaim me : call to my friends, and they de- 
ride me. O that I had the wings of a dove, that I 
might fly away and be at rest. But whither wouldst 
thou fly. 



BOANERGES AND B\ UN ABAS. 159 



His Deliverance. — His Proofs. — Hi- Soliloqw 



His deliverance. 

Fly from thyself, my soul, aiul haste thee to that 
voice that says, 

'•Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will 
hear thee;' Psal. I. 1 •">. 

His proofs. 

" He shall call upon me, and I will answer him ; 
I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and 
honour him." Psal. xci. 1#. 

Psal. liv. 7. I Cor. i. 4. Psal. Ixxxi. 7. 

GREG. MAG. 

" It is the work and providence of Gods secret 
counsel, that the days of the elect should be troubled 
in their pilgrimage. This present life is the way to 
our long home ; God, therefore, in his secret wisdom, 
afflicts our travel with continual trouble, lest the de- 
light of our journey might take away the desire of 
our journey's end." 

His so/iloauy. 

Be wise, my soul, and what thou canst not remedy, 
endure. Doth the world trouble thee? Cling close 
to him that hath overcome the world. Doth the flesh 
truuble (bee? Mortify the flesh in thy members. 
Doth the devil trouble tliee : Kesist tlie devil, ami he. 
Will fly from thee. Art thou doubled with the can s 
in thy abumlanee? I>e not too careful for to-morrow. 
Art thou troubled with wants in thy adversity? He 
contented with the bread oi to-day. Dotli sickness 
trouble thee? Make iim: of it, and submit. Doth 
strength of constitution trouble thee with cowupi- 



1«0 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

- ■ <■ ■ ■ ■--.-»■ 

His Prayer. 

scence? Fast and pray. In thy vocation art thou 
troubled with vexation ? Let those vexations wean 
thee from the world. Is thy devotion troubled with 
distractions? Let those distractions bring thee 
closer to thy God. Do losses trouble thee ? Make 
godliness thy gain. Do crosses trouble thee? Make 
the cross thy meditation. Thus while thou strug- 
glest against the stream of nature, thou shalt be car- 
ried with a gale of grace ; and when thy strength shall 
fail thee, a stronger arm shall strengthen thee. He 
that brings thee on with courage, will fetch thee off 
with conquest. Do what thou canst, and pray for 
what thou canst not. 

II is Prayer. 
O God that art the searcher of all hearts, the re- 
venger of all iniquity, the comforter of all true peni- 
tents, whose ways are inscrutable, whose judgments 
are intolerable, whose mercy is incomprehensible; 
I, thy afflicted suppliant, sensible of thy displeasure, 
bewail the multitude of my offences, and am con- 
vinced by my own conscience and thy fatherly cor- 
rections : which way soever I look, I see nothing but 
sin and death, nothing but misery. But, Lord, so 
infinite is thy mercy above my sin, and so little plea- 
sure takest thou in the destruction of a sinner, that 
thou hast commanded me to call upon thee in my 
trouble, and hast promised to hear me. In due 
obedience, therefore, to thy sweet command, and in 
firm confidence of thy gracious promise, my bended 
knees, O God, present thee with a broken heart* 



BOANERGES AND BARNABA& 161 



His Pravcr. 



r riiv sacrifices, O God, are a contrite spirit ; a 
broken heart, O Lord, thou will not despise. Lord, 
I am weak, strengthen me with thy grace; mine ene- 
mies are strong, weaken them with thy power; sup- 
press the cares of the world that so oppress me; 
subdue the exorbitances of the rlesh that so molest 
me; curb the insolencies of the devil that so afflict 
me; endue my arm with power, and arm my heart 
with patience. Make haste, O God, to hear me; 
make speed, O Lord, to help me. Break not thy 
covenant with thy servant, O God, nor alter what 
thy lips have uttered. Remember thy promise to 
the son of thy hand-maid, for it is my comfort in all 
my trouble. I call to thee in the time of my distress: 
deliver me, O God, according to thy word. Con- 
sider, O Lord, I am but diust: <> magnify thy power 
in my weakness. Remember, <>God, that I have 

been long afflicted : <> magnify tnj mercy in my de- 
liwiaixr: for in death there is no remembrance of 
thee, and in the grave what tongue can praise thee? 
My bones are vexed, and my soul is troubled; bat 

thou, O Lord, how long? how Ion:, Behold my 

fs, for they are great: regard my troubles, lor 

the] 1IC many, Quicken my soul lor thy nam. > 

sak<\ and bring me OQtofall my troubles ; then shall 

my soul rejoice in thy salvation, ami magnify thy 

name lur e\i r 

» A \ 1 . 

rbrovgh many tribulations \%e mojsl entet into 
tlir kingdom of God. 



126 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The deserted Man's Misery. 

The deserted maris misery. 
When I consider but the goodness of my God in 
offering his gracious favors to me, and my own vile* 
ness in refusing of such gracious offers, I cannot 
chuse but wonder at his mercy,' in that I live, aod 
am not snatched away from the possibility of repen- 
tance. But ah ! what comfort is a life that is bran- 
ded with the mark of death? And what happiness is 
this possibility of repentance, which hath no strength 
to actuate it but thy own? My soul, in what a case 
art thou ? Into what a miserable estate art thou re- 
duced? Thou hast forsaken thy God, and I fear thy 
Go' 1 hath forsaken thee. Methinks J want the glory 
of that sun that once revived me; methinks I lack 
the comforter of those beams that once refreshed 
me: methinks I fear where no fear is, and where I 
most should fear, 1 find myself no whit afraid. 
Those heavenly raptures which heretofore surprized 
my ravished soul, have now no relish in my drowsy 
ear : those heart-confounding judgments, whose very 
whispers in former times would split my soul in 
sunder, now move not if they thunder: those sinful 
thoughts that prest my soul like mill-stones, can now 
be acted and reacted without a sigh : those heavenly 
prophets whose presence filled me with delight, now 
trouble not my patience with their absence. My 
heart is a lump of dead flesh, my soul is stricken 
with a dead palsy, my affections with a lethargy. 
My zeal is frozen, my faith is bed-rid, my charity is 
dead, and my greatest grief is, that I cannot grieve. 



BOANERGES VND <". ; ' VBAS, 






The murk of Cain is upon me, and I fear that * 
beast that meets me will devour me. my 
w(iat comfort cuu remain with thee, when the (ioii 
of comfort hath forsaken thee? What safety canst 
thou find, when thou hast lost the God of peace ? 
What would I not forego, that I might re-obtain my 
CM? What pleasure would I not abjure, that I 
might regain his gracious pleasure? 
J J is coinjorl. 

Cheer up, my soul ; who £ives thee a heart to de- 
sire-, will likewise give thee thy heart's desire. Let 
not his seeming absenee dismay thee: the sense of 
ins abs. in . i- the sympton of his presence. Let his 
word be an antidote lor thy despair, which saith, 

"For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but 
with great mercies will I gather thee." Isa. liv. 7. 
I/is proofs. 
di:i r. iv. Bl. 

"The Lord thy God is a merciful God; lie will 
not forsake thee, miliar destroy thee, nor forget the 
Covenant of thy fathers, whirh he sware unto them. 1 
•2 COR. iv. .<>. JOSH. i. $. xkjioi. IX. 81. 



j;i. i:\ako. 

" W" In ■never thou feelesl the burthen pjf temptation 
too ln:avy upon tin e, rail him that is th> helper, in- 
\olve th\ keeper, and thy aid in all extremities; and 
Bay, Lord, save Of, for we perish. This keeper never 
sleeps OOF slumbers; though for a time he .seems afar 
ofl* fear not, he will not leave thee nor forsake thee." 

No. Hi. 3 P 



164 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



His Soliloquy. — His Prayer. 



His soliloquy. 

If thy breath, O ray soul, fail thee but a minute, 
thou diest; if thy health forsake thee awhile, thou 
languishest; if thy sleep leave thee, thou art distem- 
pered : no wonder if thy God withdraws, that thou 
art troubled. Deject not, O my soul, nor let thy 
thoughts despair. Stay thee with his promises, and 
comfort thee with his mercies. Dost thou mourn 
for him? Thou shalt be comforted in him. Dost 
thou thirst after him ? Thou shalt be filled with him. 
He that suffers not a cup of cold water for his sake 
to go unrewarded, will not permit a tear for his love 
to be unregarded. He withdraws to sharpen thy 
desire : he seems lost to inflame the seeker : he for- 
sakes thee awhile, that he may be thine for ever. 
Thou wantest him, because thou desirest him : thou 
desirest him, because thou lovest him : thou couldst 
not love him had he not first loved thee, and whom 
he loves he loves to the end. If thy neglect hath 
sent him from thee, let thy diligence draw him to 
thee : if thou hast lost him by thy sin, seek him by 
true repentance: and if thou find him by thy prayers, 
entertain him with thy thanksgiving. 
His prayer. 

O God, without the sun-shine of whose gracious 
eye the creature sits in darkness and the shadow of 
death, whose presence is the very life and true de- 
light of those that love thee, cast down thy eyes of 
pity upon a lost sheep of Israel, which hath wandered 
from thy fold into the desert of his own lust. What 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 1C-} 






dangers can I cliuse but meet, that have run myself 
out of thy protection? What sanctuary can secure 
me, that ha\ e left the covert of thy wings ? W hat com- 
fort can I expect, O God, that have forsaken thee the 
God of comfort and consolation ? Return thee, O 
great shepherd of my soul, and with thy crook re- 
(lin :<• me to thy fold. Thou art my way, conduct 
me: thou art my light, direct me: thou art my life, 
quicken me. .Disperse these clouds of sins that 
stand betwixt thy angry face and my benighted soul. 
Remove that cursed bar which my rebellion hath 
set betwixt thy deafened ear and my confused pray- 
ers : and let thy comfortable beams reflect upon me. 
Leave me Dot, <> <iod, unto myself: O Lord, forsake 
me not too long: for in me dwells nothing but des- 
pair, and the terrors of hell have taken hold of me. 
< tst me not away from thy presence, and take not 
thy hol\ Spirit from me. Remove this heart of stone, 
and give me, good God, a heart of flesh; that it 
may be capable of thy mercies, and sensible of thy 
judgments. Plant in my heart a ifear of thy name, 
and deliver my soul from carnal security. Order my 
affections according to thy will, that I may love 
what thou lovest, and hate what thou bates!. Kiu- 
dle my peal with a coal from thine altar, and en- 
asem] faith by the assurance of thy love. Ohofy 

fire, that always burnc.st and never goest out, kindle 
me: sacred light, that always shines! and art 
never dark, illuminate me. () sweet Jesus, pierce 
the marrow of my soul with the shafts of thy love» 

a r -i 



100 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The humble Man's Depression.] 

that it may burn and melt, and languish with the 
only desire of thee. Let it always desire thee, and 
seek thee, and find thee, and sweetly rest in thee. 
Be thou in all rny thoughts, in all my words, in all 
my actions; that both iny thoughts, my words and 
my actions being sanctified by thee here, I may be 
glorified by thee hereafter. 

s. CHltYS. 

"To sufTer patiently is a greatef gift than to raise 
the dead." 

mat. xxvi. 41. 

H Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation/' 
The humble man's depression. 

How more than happy are those sons of men, that 
measure no further ground than from the sacred font 
unto their peaceful grave ! How blessed are those 
infants which never lived to taste those dear-bought 
penny-worths of deceitful earth ! Alas ! there is 
nothing here but bitter pills of pleasure-gilded grief; 
here is nothing but substantial sorrows, clothed in 
the shades of false delight. Look where 1 list, there 
is nothing can appear before my eye but sorrow, the 
lamentable object of my misery: contemplate where 
I list, here is nothing can present my thoughts but 
misery, the object of my mourning. My soul is a 
spark of divine fire, but quenched with lust; ari 
image of my glorious creator, but blurred with sin : 
a parcel of mortal immortality, reserved for death. 
My understanding is darkened with error ; my judg- 
ment is perverted with partiality : my will is diverted 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 167 



illation. 



with sensuality. My memory, like a sieve, retains 
the bran, and lets the flour pass: my affections 
are anguish to good, and feverish to evil ; my faith 
wavers; my hope tires; my charity freezes: my 
thoughts are vain, my words are idle, my actions 
sinful. My body ia a tabernacle of grief, an hospital 
of diseases, a tenement of death, a sepulchre of a 
sinful soul. O my soul, how canst thou own thy- 
self without dejection j that canst not view thyself 
without corruption ? How art thou enclosed in walls 
of dust, tempered with a few tears ; a lump of earth, 
quickened with a span of life? Thy life is short and 
evil; truly miserable, because evil; only happy, 
because short. When thou endeavou rest good, thy 
heart faints: when thou strugglest with evil, thy 
Strength fails. For this my soul is humbled, and 
my spirits are depressed ; for this I loath myself, 
ami view my misery frith indignation. 
His exult (i I it))i. 

Bui cheer up, my soul, and let not thy thoughts 
he over-pn -t. Tin- ball that is thrown against the 
ground n bounds. Humility is the harbinger of 
Art thou humbled?' Uvr not: Dost thou 
fear? del -pair not : Dosl thou d-spairf' persist not. 
II ■:; k wh«t the Cod ,,| truth hath said, 

"ili- that is humble shall be exalted." Luke 
xiv. 11. 

8. Aminos, in hexaetner. «!«• Virg. lib. .3 

f - The Lord's prayer and theftpooth b* creed, which 
tl up our hearts unto the service and love of 
God, are daily to be repeated erery morning.'' 



168 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Proofs. — His Soliloquy. 

His proofs. 
" A man's pride shall bring hiin low : but honour 
shall uphold the humble in spirit." Prov. xxix. 23. 



CASSIOD. 

" By humility the members of Christ know how 
to overcome the pride of the devil. By this the faith- 
ful command : by this tyranny is conquered : by this 
the martyrs are crowned. Neither can there be a 
perfection of virtue, where there is a .defect of 
humility/' 

His soliloquy. 

All virtues, as well theological as moral, are be- 
sieged with two vices: humility, the fundamental 
of all virtues, is not exempted. Some, puffed up 
with their own lowliness, grow proud because hum- 
ble, being high-minded by an antiperistasis; this is 
spiritual pride : others taking too single a view of 
their own corruptions, and more sensible of the dis- 
ease than of the remedy, are cast into despondency 
of mind ; and this is called dejection. The first 
froths up into presumption ; the second settles down 
into a despair. How canst thou, O my soul, in this 
tempest escape this Scylla, or avoid that Charybdis? 
Dost thou fear the tossing waves? contract thy sails. 
Fearest thou the quicksands ? use thy compass. 
He that stills the waves will assist thee; he that 
commands the sea will advise thee. Look not only 
on the load-stone, for then thou wilt not see thy 
danger; nor only on thy misery, for then thou wilt 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 169 






not be sensible of thy deliverance. If thy humility 
puff thee up, thou art not fit for mercy: if dejection 
knock thee down, mercy is not fit for thee. Look- 
up, O my soul, to God's mercy, so as thou mayest 
be sensible of thy own misery ; and so look down on 
thine own misery, as thou mayest be capable of 
God's mercy. 

Bis prayer. 
Eternal God, who scatterest the proud in the 
imagination of their hearts, and givest grace to the 
humble and contrite spirit, bow down thy gracious 
ear to me, vile dust and ashes, whose misery thus 
casts itself before thy mercy. Lord, I am ashamed 
of mine own corruptions, and utterly loath mine own 
condition. I am not an object for mine own eyes 
without disdain, nor a subject for mine own thoughts 
without contempt: yet am I bold to prostrate my 
tile serf before thy glorious oves, and to present my 
sinful prayers before thj gracious ears. Lord, if 
tby mercy exceeded not mj misery, 1 could look for 
no compassion ; and if tby grace transcended not my 
sin, I could expect nothing bat confusion. thou 
that madest m<- of nothing, renew me that have made 
myself far less than nothing. Revive those sparks 
in my soul which lu^t hath qaenched : cleanse thine 
- in me, which my Bin hath blurred; enlighten 
my understanding with tby truth : rectify myjudg- 
in< nt with thy word : direct my will with thy spirit : 

strengthen roj memor) to retain good things: ordei 

my affections that I may love thee above all thing* 



170 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

■ ■ ■■ -.■■■■ . l ~ , _m *. 

The Sinner's Conflict. 

Encrease my faith ; encourage my hope ; quicken 
my charity; sweeten my thoughts with thy grace; 
season my words with thy spirit ; sanctify my actions 
with thy wisdom; subdue the insolence of my re- 
bellious flesh; restrain the fury of my unbridled 
passions ; reform the frailty of my corrupted nature : 
incline my heart to desire what is good, and bless 
my endeavours that I may do what I desire. Give 
me a true knowledge of myself, and make me sensi- 
ble of mine own infirmities. Let not the sense of 
those mercies which I enjoy blot out of my remem- 
brance those miseries which I deserve; that I may 
be truly thankful for the one, and humbly penitent 
for the other. In all my afflictions keep me from 
despair, in all my deliverances preserve me from * 
ingratitude; that being timely quickened with the 
sense of thy goodness, and truly humbled by the sight 
of mine own weakness, I maybe here exalted by the 
virtue of thy grace, and hereafter advanced to the 
kingdom of thy glory. 

S. BERN. 

u Wherefore should not man greatly humble him- 
self under a God of so great humility ?" 
The sinner's conflict. 

"When sin entered into the world, death followed. 
The scripture tells me of two deaths, the first and 
the secoud, this spiritual, that natural : the first, a 
separation of the body and the soul, and is tempor 
ral ; the second, a separation of the body and soul 
from the favour of God, and is eternal ; the first 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 171 

The Sinner's Courlict. 

is terrible, the second intolerable. If the first death 
so terriiied the Lord of life, how terrible will the 
second be to me the child of death ? If every trivial 
grief disturbs my thoughts, if every petty sickness 
distempers my body, if the very thought of death 
dismays my soul, how horrible will death itself ap- 
pear? O when the silver cord shall be dissolved, the 
golden bowl demolished, the pitcher at the fountain 
broken, the cistern wheels stopped, how will the 
whole universe of my atHicted body be perplexed ! 
Yet were I to endure for every man that hath been, 
is, and shall be, a death as oft repeated as the sea- 
shore hath sands, all this were nothing to a minute's 
torment of the second death. O treacherous and 
soul-destroying sin, how bast thou thus betrayed 
me to eternal death, by thy false, momentary and 
deceitful pleasures? How hast thou bewitched me 
with flattering imiles, and with thy counterfeit de- 
lights thus tickled me to death ? Thou hast not only 
deprived me of a transitory life, but led me into the 

hideous jaws of an everlasting death. Thou hast 
not only divorced my miserable soul from her be- 
loved body, hut separated lioth soul and body from 
the fa\onrsof my God, and left llieui to the insufler- 

able torments of eternity. <> my soul, can thy life 

DC hss than miserable, which bring ended is trans- 
ported to so infinite a miser) ? How can thy death 

DC leSS than terrible, whieh opens the gates to such 

eternal torments ? What wilt thou do? Or whither 
wilt thou fly? Thy actions cannot save thee, nor thy 

a q 



172 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Conquest. — His Proofs. 

flight secure thee. Death is thy enemy, who taking 
the advantage of thy lusts, hath strengthened itself 
through thy weakness. 

His conquest. 

Repair to thy colours, O my soul, the Lord of 
life is thy general : he hath foiled thy enemy and dis- 
armed him. Stand fast: he is conquered, if thou 
strive to conquer. Hark what thy general saith ; 

" He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the se- 
cond death." Revel, ii. II. 



S. Chrys. de orando Deum. 
" I cannot but admire and wonder at the great 
love of God towards man, for vouchsafing him so 
high an honour, as familiarity to speak unto him by 
prayer." 

His proofs. 
" To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the 
tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of 
God." Rev. ii. 7. 

Rev.iii. 21. Rev. ii. 17. 



GREG. LIB. 8. MORAL. 

" The valour of a just man is to conquer the flesh, 
to contradict his own will, to quench the delights of 
this present life, to endure and love the miseries of 
this world, for the reward of a better, to contemn the 
flatteries of prosperity, and inwardly to overcome 
the fears of adversity." 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 173 

Hb Soliloquy. — His Prayer. 

His Soliloquy. 

Our life is a warfare, and every Christian is two 
soldiers. The army consists of good and evil mo- 
tions ; these under the conduct of the flesh, those 
under the command of the Spirit. The two gene- 
rals, God and the devil : the field, the heart : the 
word on the one side, glory, on the other side, plea- 
sure: the reward of both eternity; on that side, 
of happiness, on this side, of torment. How 
is thy Ik art, O my soul, like Rebecca's womb:* 
How do two nations strive within thee? Cheer up, 
take courage in the reward that is set before thee. 
So fight, that thou mayest conquer; so run, that, 
thou mayest obtain. Let not the policy of the ene- 
my dismay thee, nor thine own fewness disanimate 
thee. Adtance, therefore, () my dull soul, fear not. 
the lio'-y darts of Satan, nor be afraid of his arrow 
that tie's my ni-lit. Press towards the great re- 
ward, & d let thy spirit resist to blood. Take con- 
front thy cause: thou lightest for thy Prince, 
thy God, and take>t up arms against his enemy, and 
thy rebellious lusts. U thy enemy too potent ? fear 
not. Art thou besieged? faint not. Art thou 
i Muted? fly not. Call aid, and thou shalt be 
Strengthened : petition, and thou shalt be relieved: 
pray, and thou shalt be recruited. 
1 lis prctyt r. 

O Cod, to whom belong tin- issims of death, at 

vrbose terrible name the rery foundation of my soul 

trembles, J, a poor convicted sinneV, accused by mv 
2 -2 



17 1 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

own conscience, and ready to be condemned by thy 
justice, do here, in the very wounding of ray heart, 
confess myself a miserable creature. I have nothing 
to plead, O God, but mercy : and where shall I find 
that mercy but in my merciful Redeemer? Blessed 
Redeemer, that hast promised victory to those that 
strive, and life to those that overcome, teach thou 
my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. Give me 
a loyal heart, that the enticements of the world may 
not seduce it ; give me a constant spirit, that the 
pleasures of the flesh may not intice it; give me a 
wise fore-cast, that the subtilty of the devil may not 
entrap me. Let not the multitude of my enemies 
discourage me, nor the greatness of their powers 
dismay me, nor the weakness of my arm dishearten 
me. Thou that gavest little Israel victory against 
great Pharaoh, strengthen me: thou that gavest 
little David the day against great Goliah, pjcconr 
*me; thou that gavest single Sampson inquest 
against the numerous Philistines, save me. Lord, 
fight against them that fight against my soul. Arise, 
O God, and let thine enemies be confounded. Lord, 
shield me from the fury of my own corruptions, for 
they are many ; Deliver me from the imaginations of 
my own heart, for they are evil, and that continually. 
Let not the frailty of my youth beset me, and keep 
me from the danger of my secret sins. Double my 
watchfulness upon my Dalilah, that is so apt to kiss 
me and betray me. Without thy grace I have no 
will to strive, no power to stand, no hope to con- 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 17S 



Slop's Decay. 



quer. Sustain me, that I may not faint; second 
me, that I may not fly ; Strengthen me that I may 
not yield. Gird my loins with truth, and let my 
breast-plate be thy righteousness; that putting on 
the helmet of salvation, 1 may tight a good fight, and 
receive a crown of glory ; that having past the ter- 
rors of the first death, I may escape the torments of 
the second, and triumph with thee in the kingdom 
of glory. 

S. CYPRIAN. 

" For why woo we listed into the bands of his 
militia, if we look for nothing but peace, and do 
.shun and refuse the difficulties of his service?" 
Siona deem/. 

Dost ask me, Why so sad ? or can my sorrow be 
thy wonder? Canst thou, or can thy eye, expect a 
sun-shine where the greater lamp of heaven is 
eclipsed ? or can my soul be frolic when the vineyard 
of ii 1 % heart is blasted ? Can the children of the 
biide-ehainlu r chuse but bang their heads, to see 
the bridegroom slighted, and tin,* bride's lovely 
checks profaoed with every peasant hand? Can 
pOOf iffrigbted lambs, wanton and frisk upon the 
pleasant plains, when their worried mothers trem- 
ble at tin' quest of every cur ? \\ hat member can re- 
joice, win ii the body is digmembefed Z Sion, the 
glor j of heaven, is darkened, and her bright beams 
obscured. Sion, the vineyard of our souls, is blast- 
ed, and her closteri Sre (grown sour. Sion, the 

bride of my Redeemer, is defiled, her blood-washed 



176 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

Her Defence. 

robes are sullied and slubbered. Sion, the mistress 
of our flocks, is overpowered, and her tender lambs 
have no protection. Sion, the mother of us all, is 
barren, and her uberous breasts are dry. Sion, the 
glorious corporation of the elect, is factious in itself, 
and her members are disjointed. Ah ! how can my 
distressed soul find rest, when Sion, the rest of my 
distressed soul, is oppressed ? How many of her 
dearest children are now tugging- at the slavish oar 
of infidels? How many roaring under the imperious 
hand of the daughter of Babylon? How many 
banished from their native soils, and driven from 
their usurped possessions ? This vine, which heaven's 
right hand hath planted, is decayed, her fences 
broken, her hedge trodden down ; her body torn by 
schismatics, cankered with heretics, blasted with 
fiery spirits ; her branches rent with the wild boar, 
her grapes devoured with the wily fox. Her shep- 
herds are turned wolves, and have devoured her 
flocks. Confusion is within her walls, and deso- 
lation is near unto her gates. O Jerusalem, if I for- 
get to mourn for thee, let my right hand forget her 
cunning; and if 1 prize not thee above my greatest 
joy, let my tongue cleave to my roof. 
Her defence. 

But hark, I hear a heavenly voice whispering 
glad tidings in my ear, which saith, 

"I the Lord do keep it, and will water it." Isa. 
xxvii. 3. 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 177 



Her l J ioo:"s. — Her Soliloquy. 



II er j/ruoj's. 

"The Lord will save Sion, and will build the 
cities of Judafa ; that they may dwell there, and have 
it in possession." Psal. Ixix. 5. 

Psal. Ixxxvii. 5. Isa. xiv. 3*2. Isa. xii. G. 
Orig. Horn. 10. in divers. 

"O holy Lord, how happy are they that trust in 
thee ! It is a most certain truth, that thou lovest all 
those that love thee, and never forsakest those that 
trust in thee. For lichold, thy love sought thee, and 
undoubtedly found thee. She trusted in thee, and 
she i> not forsaken of thee, but hath obtained more 
by thee than she expected from thee." 
l/i r aoKioqvy, 

Who is not interested in the miseries of Sion? 
What sadness may not be justified in her calamity? 
O my sonl, thou ma\est here spend thyself in holy 
passion, and dissolve thyself in tears: but yet be 
wisely sad ; let not thy tears exceed thy confidence, 
nor h t thv grief exclude thy hope. Mourn not for 

the bride, us if the bridegroom were not; or being-, 
had no power - or having power, wanted will; or 

baviog will, were like thyself forgetful. INo, no, 
rn\ -onl, he that suffers her to suffer, will sustain 

her in her MiU'erance and crown her Buffering! : M hen 

she is persecuted, she prospers ; when she is opprest 
led, she ionrishes; in her contempt she gains honour; 

in her wounds, victories; in her reproach, credit; 

in In ir patience; a crown; and with her crown of 
thorns, a crown of glory. Cm die be more like her 



178 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The Prayer. 

bridegroom than in affliction ? Can she more resemble 
lier husband than in persecution ? Remember, O my 
soul, she is a plant of his right hand's planting, and 
who can pluck it up ? Fear not, this vine must pros- 
per in spite of opposition. Yet know, my soul, 
thou shalt not prosper, nor see good days, unless 
thou wish prosperity to Jerusalem, and pray for 
peace in Sion. 

The Prayer. 
O God, that art the beauty of Sion, and the glory 
of thy Jerusalem, and the joy of thine elect, behold 
the mangled body of thy distressed church; relieve 
the miseries of her distempered members. She is 
our lamp, illuminate her with thy glory; she is thy 
vine, O fructify her with thy grace ; she is thy bride, 
embrace her in thy love ; she is thy flock, protect 
her by thy power; she is our body, rectify her with 
thy health ; we are her members, sanctify us with 
thy righteousness. Let not the malice of satan dis- 
courage her : let not the counsels of the wicked dis- 
turb her: let not the gates of hell prevail against her. 
Give verity in her doctrine, unity in herself, uni- 
formity in her discipline, universality in her progress: 
repair her broken fences, and weaken the power of 
the wild boar. Bless all such as love her; and as 
for her enemies, either convert them in thy mercy, 
or confound them in thy justice. Let her appear 
to be thy daughter, and let the king's daughter be all 
glorious withiu. Let her be known to be thy ark, 
and let Dagon fall down before her. Purge her 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 179 



The Sinner's Accompt. 



from error, heresy, ignorance and superstition ; and 
being purged, O take thou pleasure in her beauty. 
Behold her branches, which suffer for thy name, and 
give them deliverance or patience. Let no weapon 
that is formed against thy church prosper, and fat 
all tongues that speak against her be confounded. 
Let her gates be always open, and glorifj the house 
of thy glory. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy 
right bund, that be may guard this plant which thy 
light hand hath planted. Give thy justice to the 
king, and thy righteousness to the king's son. Season 
thy seminaries with thy truth ; and bless the house 
of Levi, and bless the house of Aaron. Turn thy 
countenance to thy first love, the Jews; and take 
not thy candlestick from thy chosen, the Gentiles: 
that having one shepherd, we may be one rlock ; and 
having one faith, we may be one church ; and having 
ono heart to please thee, we may baffle one voice to 
prai». ■ tin-*-, bet! militant in the kingdom of grace, 
and hereafter triumphant in the kingdom of glory. 

' YI'KIAN. 

'• He cannot have God to be his father, who owus 
not tin- church as his mother." 

Tlu sinner s aero nipt. 

How 1 can llatter my own destruction, and with 
the common stream of frail mortality run into the 
dead sea of everlasting death! How soundly 1 can 
sleep in the wanton trap of treacherous security, un- 
lill wake disarmed of all my strength, and turn a 
prey to that false Philistine that seeks my soul ! 
3* 



180 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The Sinner's Accompt. 

When I call to mind the course that I have run, and 
set to view the steps that I have trod, how easily 
can I excuse my failings, and set them on the score 
of miserable Adam ! But when I seriously consider 
whose laws I have offended, and strictly examine 
my actions by that law, and justly proportion my 
punishment to those actions, O then I stand and 
tremble, and am swallowed up with despair. O 
then my sins appear too great for pardon, and my 
punishment too great for patience. Which way so- 
ever I turn, I turn to my disquiet: look where I 
will, I view my own discomfort. Look up, I see a 
dreadful God; look down, I see a direful devil: 
look forward, I see a roll of sins; look backward, 
I see a roaring conscience; look on my right hand, 
I see my bold presumption ; look on my left hand, 
I see my base despair: look within me, I see my 
own corruption; look about me, I see nothing but 
confusion. I have sinned upon ignorance, ignorance 
will not excuse me: I have sinned upon weakness, 
weakness will not plead for me: I have sinned 
against my conscience, my conscience will accuse 
me : I have sinned against the law, the law condemns 
me. What canst thou say, my soul, that sentence 
of death should not be given against thee? Can the 
voice of thy sorrow out cry the language of thy sin ? 
Can the tears of thine eye scour the stains of thy 
soul ? Can the sighs of a finite creature satisfy for 
the offences against an infinite Creator ? Or art thou 
Me to endure the punishments of eternity ? He that 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 181 



Hi- Qafetua est.— His Proofs.— His Soliloquy. 



made thee without thee will not save thee; and 
what canst thou do towards thy own salvation ? 
His quietus est. 

Prostrate thyself, my soul: behold thy misery, 
and bewail thyself; renounce thyself, abhor thyself, 
f]y to the horns of the altar, and call for the promise 
of mercy, in which thou mayst find eonifort. 

"If the wicked shall turn from all his sins that he 
hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do 
that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, 
he shall not die.'' Ezek. xviii. *2 1 . 
Mis proofs. 

" Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that 
vonr sins may be blotted out, when the times of re- 
freshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."' 
Acts iii. 19. 

% Pet iii. .0. Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 

AUG. 

" Lord, though 1 have done that for which thou 
ffltghtesl justly damn me, } et thou canst not lose 
that w her. by thou mayest save inc. Tlmu wilt not, 
v\\,..i Jesus, so much remember thy .justice against 

the sinner, as thy benignity towards thy ereatnre. 
Thou canst forget the insolence of the provoker! and 

wilt in mercy behold the misery otilic invoker; for 

for what l- JesnS but a Sauour." 

IllS Mil I IlK/l/f/. 

An humble confidence is the mean betwixt tin 

:{ i: 1 



182 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

two extremes, presumption and despair: that usurps 
God's mercy upon false grounds; this excludes it, 
and all means to it: the first takes away the sense 
of sin, the last blocks up the way to pardon. Take 
heed, O my dejected soul ; plunge not thyself in that 
sad gulph, lest (wanting bottom) thou sink for ever; 
swim not with bladders, lest thou tire. Having 
fastened one eye upou the ugliness of thy sin, fix the 
other upon the merits of a Saviour: So when thou 
discoverest the disease, thy disease will discover a 
remedy. When the fiery serpent hath stung thee, 
the brazen serpent must heal thee. Nothing, O my 
soul, makes thy sin too great for mercy, but despair: 
this only excludes repentance, and impenitence alone 
makes thee incapable of pardon. He that hath pro- 
mised forgiveness at thy repentance, hath not 
promised repentance at thy pleasure. Haste there- 
fore, O my soul, and reconcile thee to thy God to- 
day, lest it should prove too late to-morrow. Turn 
thy hand from thy present sin, and God will turn his 
eyes from thy past sin. Cry aloud and spare not, 
lest thy sin cry aloud, and he spare not. Let thy 
confession find a tongue, and his compassion will 
find an ear. 

His prayer. 
O God, that art in thyself most glorious, but in 
thy Son most gracious; to the rebellious terrible, 
but to the penitent merciful ; I, the work of thine own 
hands, but wholly disframed by mine own corrup- 
tions, humbly prostrate my sinful self before the 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 103 

His I' 

footstool of thy mercy-seat, totally miserable through 
my sins, but truly penitent for my offences. Lord, 
if thou shouldest proceed against me in thy justice, 
my portion would be no less than eternal death. 
But thy delight is rather to extend thy mercy in the 
conversion of a soul, than exercise thy justice in the 
confusion of a sinner. Bow down therefore thy gra- 
cious ear to a poor wretch that stands trembling be- 
fore the bar of thy justice, and from thence presumes 
to appeal to the seat of thy mercy. 1 know, O God, 
mine iniquities are greater than my knowledge, but 
yet thy mercy is greater than mine iniquities : J know 
moreover that tho\J art more just, but in shewing thy 
men v thy justice will be no loser. Lord, I am 
mix table, therefore a fit object for thy mercy; 
Lord, 1 am penitent, and therefore a proper subject 
for thy pity: for I know thou art a gracious God, 
of |0Bg sullerauce, ami slow to anger, elfti had J 
now been roaring under tliv justice, thai am here 
smug for thy mercy. Lord, I acknowledge my 

transgressions, and royain is ever before me; the 

number of them is innumerable, and the burthen of 

them is intolerable, i have sinned against i just 
God, J have sinned against a gracious father; 1 

therefor. • llv from thee as | sharp re\eiiger, and to 
thee BJ a sweet Redeemer. Keiuember not thy jus- 
tiOS U>wa/4fl a sinner, but think upon thy benignity 
1<>\vard» thy creature. J lave respect to w hat tliv Sou 
hath done tor me, and forget what iiivmus have (lone 
against me. "Wash my guiltiness in his blood, and 



184 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

The Sinner's Thirst. 

in the multitude of thy compassions behold the mul- 
titude of my transgressions. Pardon what is past, 
and arm me for the time to come ; that being purged 
from my sins, and cleansed from my offences, I may 
be clothed here with the robes of grace, and crowned 
hereafter with a crown of glory. 

The sinners thirst. 
LO, I, that like the prodigal had once the freedom 
of my father's table, could now be satisfied with the 
crumbs beneath it: I, that could clothe me with 
change of garments from my father's wardrobe, 
could now be thankful but for rags to hide my 
nakedness : I, that forsook him like a disobedient 
son, would hold it now a happiness to be his mean- 
est servant. What shall I do? or whither shall I 
go ? By whose charity shall I subsist ? My weak- 
ness will not give me leave to work; my unworthi- 
ness will not suffer me to appear; nor have I a 
friend to help me. 1, that have renounced my fa- 
ther, have made myself no son ; and being no son, 
how dare my boldness call him father? I have of- 
fended him, who shall reconcile us ? I have grieved 
him, and who shall make my peace? I have forsaken 
him, and who shall restore me to him? Can I ex- 
pect a blessing from him 1 have offended ? Can 
I presume of favour from him I have so grieved ? 
Can I deserve a birthright from him I have forsa- 
ken ? O my soul, how hast thou beslaved thyself, 
and lost that freedom without the enjoyment where- 
of thou art utterly lost? Thou hast lost that father 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 185 

Hi- S itisfytBg. — 4 II-* } J rooi>. 
~ - — - 

that was wont to bless thee: thou hast lost that 
Lord that was pleased bo govern thee: thou hast re- 
nounced that .Saviour that redeemed tine ; and 
only ha>t reserved a God to punish thee, a Judge t<> 

fire tbee: thou hast lost those blessings by thy 
contempt which thou canst not regain with the price 
of thy tears: thou hast quenched that Spirit where- 
by thou liadst the power to quench the fiery darts 
of Satan: thou hast diverted the current of that 
fountain whose water satisfied thy full desires. <> 
my sad soul, how! how wert thou distempered, that 
could not relish that which nourished angels into 
immortality! Why didst thou not inebriate thyself 
with that delicious sweetness, anil ark it up like Is- 

- man or, to remain with thee and the succeed? 

eneralions? (> that mine eyes could teach those 

(1 streams to ruo, which my ungratefulness has 

stopt ! Or that mv pra\«-rs could, like Khjah s, iiii- 

l<>< I. ih. gates oj Deafen, and bringdown those ee- 
Je^ti;il showers to slake my thirst, that 1 may drink 
in\ fill of that immortal water ! 

His satisfying. 
Take ( omfort, ( > my soul ; thy ( lod hath heard thy 

id crowned them with this promise. 
" I will givS to him that is aibifSt of tin: fountain 
••I the water of life to drink fret ly." Rev« XXt. 0' 

His ptoqfs. 
" Blessed are they that hunger and thirst forrigh* 
tak< : for tiny shall be tilled. " Mat. v. ft 
John iv. J i. \ii. 'M, 38. Kev. xxii. 17 



18(5 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Soliloquy. 
AUGUST. SOLILOQ. 35. 

" O fountain of life, and vein of living waters, when 
shall I leave this forsaken, impassable, and dry earth, 
and taste the waters of thy sweetness, that I may be- 
hold thy virtue and thy glory, and slake my thirst 
with the streams of thy mercy. Lord, I thirst; thon 
art the spring of life, satisfy me: I thirst, Lord, I 
thirst after thee the living God. 
His soliloquy. 

Tt is less danger to want than to be insensible of 
thy wants. Dost thou want, my soul? desire: 
Dost thon desire? ask: Dost thou ask, thou shait 
receive, and what thou shalt receive shall satisfy 
thee. Be not troubled : if thy wants cast thee down, 
let thy desires raise thee up. Shall thy natural 
wants be confident of supply from thy natural father, 
and shall thy spiritual defects despair to be repaired 
by thy spiritual Father ? How dost thou injure pro- 
vidence, O my distrustful soul i How dost thou 
wrong the God of mercy ! how slight the God of 
truth ! He that hears the cry of ravens, and feeds 
them with a gracious hand, will he be deaf to thee ? 
He that robes the lilies of the field, that neither sue 
nor care to be apparelled, will he deny thee those 
graces he hath commanded thee to ask ? Art thou 
hungry? he is the bread of life: Art thou thirsty? 
he is the water of life : Art thou naked ? fly to him, 
and he will give thee the righteousness of his own 
Son. Build upon his promise, who is truth itself: 
rely upon bis mercy who is goodness itself. Art 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 187 



Hu Prayer, 



thou a prodigal? yet remember thou art a sou : Is 
he offended ? he will not forget be is a Father. 

Come, therefore, with a filial boldness, and be will 
grant thy heart's desire. 

J J is prayer. 
O God, that art the well-spring of all grace, and 
the fountain of all goodness, whose promises are 
faithful, and whose word is truth, who hearest the 
sighing; of a contrite heart, and healest the ruptures 
of an humble spirit; I, here invited by thy mercies 
and gracious commands, prostrate my self before thee, 
and present unto thee the sad petitions of a pensive 
breast. I have sinned, O Lord, 1 have sinned 
a-ainvt hea\cu and against thee, and am no longer 
worthy to be called thy son. ] have cast off the 
yoke of my. obedience; J have broken the bands of 
thy covenant, and cast them far from me. 1 have 

ainned against thv mercies, and spurned against thy 
judgments: th\ judgments have- neither terrified, 
nor thy aatroiea mollified me. lint 1 acknowledge 
say transgressions, and my sins are ever before tne. 
Remember om the frailties oi "my \outh, o God, nor 
the lollies of my ♦ Uler days. Remember not how 1 
havr forgotten thee ; remember not how I bavefot- 
saken thee, dose thou tbioe eyas al mj rebellion, 
and open tbiae ears ut m\ repentance. Be merciful, 
O God, al ui> contrition: a broken heart, <> God, 
thou wilt not denpise. Kenew in< according t<» the 
abundance of thj nierci< s, an< store me to the joy 
of thy sanation. Establish m\ heart in the love ot 



188 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 



The good Man's Distrust. 



thy truth, and increase in me a spiritual thirst. 
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts, and 
let thy testimonies be my whole delight. As the 
hart pauteth after the water-brooks, so my sout 
longeth for the well-springs of life. Lord, thou hast 
promised to answer those that call unto thee, to be 
found by those that seek unto thee, and satisfy those 
that thirst after thee: make good thy word, O God, 
and hear my prayer; make good thy promise, Lord, 
and be not far from me. I have sought thee in thy 
promise, let me find thee in thy performance; I have 
thirsted for thy grace, O fill me with thy goodness. 
Open thy well springs, that I may drink freely of 
the waters of life ; that my soul being satisfied in the 
fulness of thy pleasures, my mouth may be filled 
with the sound of thy praises; that here magnifying 
thy name in the kingdom of grace, I may reign with 
thee hereafter in the kingdom of glory. 

"Ho, every one that tfeirsteth, come ye to the 
waters : and he that hath no money, come ye, buy 
and eat: yea come, buy wine and milk without 
money, and without price." Isa. lv. 1. 
The good man's distrust. 
When I consider the all-sufficiency of my God, I 
dare not question the performance of his promises; 
but when I behold the insufficiency of myself, I can- 
not but fear the promises of his performance. When 
I behold in him the goodness of a father, my heart 
n-ro^s confident, and I cannot fear: but when I find 
Is me the disobedience of a son, my soul growj* 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 18i> 

The gw 1 Mans Distrust. 

conscious, and I dare not hope. When I dive into 
the depth of my own misery, 1 starch further, and 
find a greater depth of his mercy, and am secure; 
out when I find the freeness of his mercy requited 
'with the wilfulness"of my rebellion, O then my soul 
despairs, and thus destroys the grounds of all my 
comfort lit- invites my laden soul to come, and 
oticrs rest: Alas! I come, and yet my laden soul 
caMfad no ease. He promises eternal life to my 
belief; but yet he gives me not the power to believe. 
He bid* me in his name propound my wants, with 
promise of supply; and yet 1 sue, and sue, and still 
1 sue in vain. He promises a Comforter to strength- 
en my remembrance; yet still my treacherous me- 
mory (ails me. He promises to be a lather to the 
fatherless; yet still my wants persuade me that 1 
want a father. He promises audience in my time of 
tfOuble; and yet I call unheard, and mourn without 

mires*. He promises forgiveness to the true repent- 
ant ; but who shall give me power to repent? He 
■■O tt thcr OM id mercy, though a while for- 

saken ; yet 1 have lon<r expected, with a frustrate 
expectation. He promises an exaltation to hint that 
is humbled; yet my dejected heart is still suppres- 
m<I. II- promised freedom from the second death 
to him that conquers; I strive to overcome, yel feel 

a hell. His promise was to guard his vineyard, and 
to dress it; yet foxes de-tmy it, and the Wild hoar 

sapplants it. lie promised comfort to all those that 

i'u ; and yel I mourn without a comforter. Il<* 

3 3 S 



190 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

his Satisfaction.— Hte Proofs. 

promised that the woman's seed should break the 
serpent's head ; and yet the serpent never was more 
strong. He bid me seek, and I should find ; and 
yet alas ! I seek, but can find nothing but my wants. 
lie calls them blessed that suffer for his name; yet 
who more miserable? He promises the springs of 
life to him that thirsts? and yet 1 thirst to death. 
My soul, what are his promises to thee, that art not 
able to perform those hard conditions that give thee 
interest in those promises ? 

His satis/action. 

Cheer up, my soul, and what thou canst not do, 
endeavour. He that accepts the will for the deed, 
is in his promise, Yea and Amen. 

" Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one 
tittle of my word."' Mark xiii. 31. 
His proofs. 

" Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto 
his people, according unto all that he hath promi- 
sed. There hath not failed one word of all his good 
promises which he hath promised. 1. Kings viii. 56. 
2 Cor. i. 20. 2 Kings x. 10. Psal. cxix. 89. 



AUTHOR SCALfl- PAKAD. TOM. 9. AUG. C. 8. 

" Fear not, O bride, nor despair: think not thy- 
self contemned if thy bridegroom withdraw his face 
a while. All things co-operate for the best: both 
from his absence and his presence thou gainest light. 
He coraeth to thee, and goeth from thee: he cometb 
Jo make thee consolate ; he goetli to make theecaur 



BOANERGES AND BARNAB\S. 191 



His BoUloqnj. 



tious, lest thy abundant consolation puff thee up: 
he cometh, that thy languishing soul maybe com- 
forted; be goetb, lest his familiarity should be con- 
temned, and being absent to be more desired, and 

being tit-sired to be more earnestly sought, and being 
long sought to be more acceptably found."' 
His soliloquy. 
Wilt thou never, O my distrustful soul, submit 
thy will unto his will that made thee? Must his 
goodness be always the circumference of thy desires, 
and thy pleasure still the centre? Is it not enough 
that Yea and Amen hath promised the substance of 
thy happiness, but must thou bind him to thy cir- 
cumstances? Shall the power of an infinite Creator 
niined to the pleasure of a finite creature ? Stand 
no! in thine own light, my soul ; the independence 
of thy exorbitant desires shuts the door upon that 
happiness thou defcirest. Arl thou covetous of a 
blessing before thou art qualified to receive it? IJe 
that intends thee a kingdom, will first make thee ca- 
pable of a kin-doin. Thou that shall be a gainer 
by his favour, shall be no loser by his delay. Canst 
thou hope to be filled w ith the water of life, not first 
purged with the tire of alllictiou? How often hast 

thou murmured for that, which, if enjoyed, had been 

t!i\ ruin? God hath promised, but hath delayed per- 
,;kc, toexercise th) patience. He hath decreed, 

but yet forbears, to rectify thy faith. If faith be able 

to remove mountains, endeavour to remove th\ infi- 
delity. Endure, hope, believe; and he that comes 



192 BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 

His Prayer. 

will come, and will not tarry. O my soul, as nothing 
hinders the performance of his promise but distrust, 
so nothing hastens the promise of his performance, 
but thy prayer. 

His prayer. 
O God, that art all-sufficient in thyself, all* 
gracious in thy Son, most absolute in thy purposes, 
and most faithful in thy promises ; I, the miserable 
object of thy mercy, here humbly present myself be- 
fore thee, the merciful beholder of my misery. Lord, 
wherein have I to trust but in thy mercies ? and 
whereupon have I to build but on thy promises? 
Every sin is full of death, and every action is full cf 
sin; insomuch that my whole life is nothing but a 
continued rebellion against thee : but, O my God, 
Ihy goodness is like thyself, infinite; and thy mercy 
is past my comprehending. Thou knowest that I 
am evil, and wholly evil, and that continually. Thou 
knowest I am but dust and ashes, and the very off- 
spring of corruption, and thy glory is no less mag- 
nified in my confusion than in my salvation. But 
Lord, thou art a gracious God, and takest no plea- 
sure in the death of a distressed sinner. Thy mercy 
is over all thy works, and thy goodness is from ge- 
neration to generation. When 1 Mas in open rebel- 
lion against thee, thou reconcilest thyself to me ; 
when I was utterly lost, thou redeemest me with the 
innocent blood of thy dear Son ; and being redeem- 
ed, thou hast sanctified me with the freeness of tby 
spirit. Thou hast raised me by thy power, and 



BOANERGES AND BARNABAS. 195 






strengthened me by thy promises. "What shall I 
return thee, O my God, for what kind of recompence 
can dust and ashes make thee ! My tongue shall 
ging the wonders of thy goodness, and praise thy 
Name for ever, and ever. Continue, O Lord, thy 
mercies to me, ami visit me according to thy wonted 
kindness. Give me a wise heart, that I may give 
>ect unto all thy commandments, and a full con- 
fidence in all thy promises. Quicken my hope in 
the expectation of thy performance, and give me 
patience till then to attend thy leisure. Lord, where 
I cannot understand, O teach me to wonder; and 
what I cannot do, give me power to believe. Let 
not the apparition of my own corruptions plunge me 
in despair, nor yet the sense of thy indulgent love 
give me occasion to presume; that living here in the 
expectation of thy truth, my hopes may be perfected 
into the glory of thy name 

" >\ ork out your own salvation with fearaud trem- 
bling." Phil. ii. 12. 



FINIS. 



COCK, PB1NTIB, I'L.NKX n. 






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